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“This is a team, it is a club, and we all go together hand in hand,” the Real Madrid coach insisted, perhaps asserting a little too much. “If you coach Real Madrid, you are prepared for anything,” he continued on the eve before Manchester City return to the Santiago Bernabéu for another instalment of a frequent heavyweight clash. “I am eager for what lies ahead, beginning tomorrow, a chance to transform the frustration. Our sole focus is City. In this sport, whether good or bad, situations evolve rapidly.” Failure and things could alter for good, and for good: this opportunity is an duty, too.

Urgent Meetings After Dismal Home Defeat

Following Madrid’s desperately poor 2-0 setback on Sunday, Alonso revealed he had “reached some conclusions,” and he was not alone. Into the early hours, crisis talks persisted, the club’s leadership drawing their own conclusions after a single win in five league games. Their diagnoses were not the same and while severe measures are temporarily shelved, patience is finite, the names of candidates already circulating. “One must confront such circumstances, but my focus is solely on the match, on elements within my power,” Alonso commented

“Certainly the trainer devised an effective approach, but when it comes down to it, the players execute on the field,” one of the squad's leaders said. “If we lost 2-0 to Celta, there’s a problem that’s on us: it’s not the coach’s fault.”

A Swift Deterioration After Early Success

City will be his twenty-eighth match in charge of Madrid and it may prove to be his farewell at a club where a state of emergency is perpetually looming after a few setbacks, where even ties are unacceptable, and there’s perpetually an alternative who can coach. Things have indeed changed fast, even if the roots of the crisis were there from the start. Sold as a structured planner, the ideal solution after a season of lack of discipline and disappointment, Alonso was an anomaly at a players’ club.

When Madrid triumphed in El Clásico in late October, they moved five points ahead at the top. They had secured twelve victories in thirteen competitive games, although the setback was significant: 5-2 at Atlético. It also revealed cracks. Replaced in the 72nd minute, Vinícius Júnior stormed off down the tunnel, threatening to walk straight out the club. In a statement a few days later he said sorry to all but Alonso. From the club's leadership, rather than backing the coach, there was silence.

Tensions Emerging

Within the dressing room, the verdict was clear: Alonso was wrong to remove Vinícius off. Pressed on the issue if he would repeat that decision, Alonso responded: “I am unsure of the purpose of that query. If, in the moment, I believe a decision is required on the field, I will make it.” Frictions had been laid bare, a separation between manager and certain squad members. Federico Valverde too had made his frustrations public. The puzzle pieces weren't aligning as they should. A familiar lament began to surface about all the orders, the video analysis, the extended practices. Who did he think he was, the manager?!

Nine days after the clásico, Madrid were beaten by Liverpool, starting a sequence of two wins in seven. When adopting a straightforward approach, they beat Olympiakos and Athletic Bilbao but between those were held by Rayo, Elche and Girona. Belatedly, talks were held to fix fault lines or at least paper over the issues, to restore tranquility. Focus was directed at the footballers for the first time.

A Fragile Reconciliation

In Bilbao, where they had been assembled a day early, it seemed some compromise had been established; Alonso meeting their needs more than they did his. Reconciliation was staged when Vinícius greeted the coach as he departed. Two days off followed. Subsequently, though, Celta defeated them and so it disintegrates anew.

That it is understood that Alonso’s future is in doubt is as notable as the fact it is. If Madrid beat City, that can always be denied, but it is calculated. Alonso knows that. He also knows, for all that he tried to talk about injuries and bad luck, not even truly convincing himself, Madrid were awful against Celta: a lack of style, a deficient mentality, a lack of organization.

The Coach: The Easiest Target

But the most vulnerable point, is always the manager, and Alonso’s future, more than the sporting matters, was the central theme to this game. However much the man who is still Madrid’s manager kept trying to bring it back to the match, which he did with nearly each answer. The briefest response he gave might have been the most telling, had he truly believed it. Asked if he felt the complete roster was behind him, Alonso replied in a single word: “yes.”

“Being Madrid manager is not about changing [the culture]; it is about adapting,” Alonso continued. “The culture of Real Madrid is well-known to us; it's the reason for its status as the world's premier club. Adaptation, continuous learning, and player communication are key. There will be highs and lows. Meeting challenges with drive and a positive mindset is the only route to improvement.”

It was when he was asked if he felt alone that Alonso talked of a team, a club, that goes hand in hand, and when attention was turned to the question of endorsement or the deficit from above, he commented: “Communication [with the hierarchy] is constant, and it comes from confidence, unity and affection. We’re all together in this. We’re mentally ready to face everything that comes: the team is united, convinced that we can win tomorrow, no one has any doubts about that. It is the Champions League. We are at the Bernabéu. The atmosphere will be special. That creates a different energy, including in the players.”