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“We are a collective, a single entity, and we are all in this as one,” Xabi Alonso stated emphatically, maybe protesting a tad forcefully. “If you coach Real Madrid, you are prepared for anything,” he added on the day before the English champions visit once more the Santiago Bernabéu for a new instalment of a contemporary rivalry. “I anticipate the challenge ahead, starting tomorrow—an opening to redirect the disappointment. Our minds are fixed solely on City. Football, for better or worse, is a game of swift changes.” A defeat and things could alter for good, and for good: this opportunity is an imperative, too.

Crisis Talks After Poor Loss at the Bernabéu

Following Madrid’s woefully inadequate 2-0 home defeat on Sunday, Alonso said he had “reached some conclusions,” and he was not alone. Late into the night, emergency discussions carried on, the club’s leadership reaching their own verdicts after a mere one victory in five league games. Their diagnoses were different and while radical changes are temporarily shelved, forbearance is running out, the names of candidates already circulating. “These are scenarios you must deal with, yet my mind is fixed only on the game, on what I can influence,” Alonso commented

“For sure the coach had a good plan but, in the end we, the players, are the ones on the pitch,” 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 Quick Decline After Initial Success

City will be his twenty-eighth match in charge of Madrid and it could be his last at a club where a turmoil is always just two losses around the corner, where even draws will not do, and there’s always someone else who can coach. Things have indeed changed fast, even if the seeds of the problem were there from the start. Hailed as a systems coach, the ideal solution after a season of lack of discipline and disappointment, Alonso was counter-cultural at a players’ club.

When Madrid triumphed in El Clásico in late October, they opened a five-point gap at the top. They had triumphed in twelve out of thirteen competitive games, although the loss had been heavy: 5-2 at Atlético. It also revealed cracks. Taken off after 72 minutes, Vinícius Júnior stormed off down the tunnel, reportedly threatening to leave the club. In a letter a few days later he expressed regret to all apart from Alonso. At the executive level, rather than backing the coach, there was silence.

Frictions Brought to the Surface

Behind the scenes, the conclusion was clear: Alonso was wrong to remove Vinícius off. Pressed on the issue if he would do that again, Alonso answered: “I don’t know what that question is for. If I see in the moment that I have to take a decision on the pitch, I do.” Tensions had been brought to the surface, a rift between manager and certain squad members. Federico Valverde too had voiced his discontent openly. The components weren't meshing as they should. A typical grievance began to surface about all the instructions, the video analysis, the lengthy training. Who did he think he was, the manager?!

Nine days after the clásico, Madrid were overcome at Liverpool, starting a sequence of two wins in seven. Capable of a more direct style, they beat Olympiakos and Athletic Bilbao but between those were held by Rayo, Elche and Girona. Eventually, talks were held to mend divisions or at least paper over the issues, to bring calm. Focus was directed at the footballers for the first time.

A Temporary Rapprochement

In Bilbao, where they had been gathered a day early, it seemed some compromise had been found; Alonso meeting their needs more than they did his. Reconciliation was orchestrated when Vinícius embraced the manager as he departed. A couple of days' rest followed. Subsequently, though, Celta defeated them and so it disintegrates anew.

That it is public knowledge that Alonso’s future is under scrutiny is as important 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 unfairness, not even truly believing his own words, Madrid were terrible against Celta: no identity, no attitude, an absence of tactical shape.

The Coach: The Easiest Target

But the weakest link, is always the manager, and Alonso’s future, more than the on-pitch performance, dominated the buildup to this game. However much the man who is still Madrid’s manager kept trying to redirect attention to the match, which he did with virtually all his replies. The briefest response he gave might have been the most revealing, had he truly believed it. Asked if he felt the complete roster was behind him, Alonso replied in a one word: “yes.”

“The role of Real Madrid coach isn't to alter the culture; it is to adjust,” Alonso continued. “We understand the ethos of Real Madrid thoroughly; it's what makes it the globe's greatest club. One must adjust, absorb knowledge, engage with the squad. Certain days bring success, others less so. We must confront this with vigor and optimism; it's the sole path to reversal.”

It was when he was asked if he felt isolated that Alonso talked of a unit, a club, that goes together, and when attention was turned to the question of backing or its absence from above, he answered: “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.”