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“This is a team, it is a club, and we all go together hand in hand,” the Real Madrid coach declared, perhaps affirming somewhat excessively. “Being the manager of Real Madrid means you are always prepared,” he added on the eve before the English champions visit once more the Santiago Bernabéu for a new instalment of a contemporary rivalry. “I’m looking forward to what’s coming and that starts tomorrow, [an opportunity] to turn round the anger. In our heads, there’s only City. In football, for better or worse, things change quickly”. A defeat and things could change immediately, and for good: this opportunity is an obligation, too.

Crisis Talks After Dismal Loss at the Bernabéu

Following Madrid’s desperately poor 2-0 setback on Sunday, Alonso revealed he had “reached some conclusions,” and he was far from the only one. Into the early hours, crisis talks continued, the club’s hierarchy drawing their own conclusions after a single win in five league games. Their analyses were different and while drastic decisions are temporarily shelved, patience is finite, the names of candidates already in the public domain. “One must confront such circumstances, but my focus is solely on the match, on elements within my power,” Alonso said here

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

A Rapid Decline After Early Promise

City will be his twenty-eighth outing in charge of Madrid and it could be his last at a club where a crisis is always just two losses around the corner, where even draws will not do, and there’s perpetually an alternative who can coach. Things have indeed evolved rapidly, even if the roots of the crisis were there from the start. Presented as a systems coach, the ideal solution after a season of laissez-faire and failure, Alonso was an anomaly at a players’ club.

When Madrid triumphed in El Clásico in late October, they established a five-point lead 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 exposed fissures. Substituted on 72 minutes, Vinícius Júnior headed directly for the dressing room, seemingly ready to quit the club. In a letter a few days later he said sorry to all but Alonso. At the executive level, rather than supporting the trainer, there was radio silence.

Tensions Emerging

Internally, the verdict was clear: Alonso ought not to have substituted Vinícius off. Questioned on this point if he would make the same call, Alonso answered: “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.” Strains had been exposed, a disconnect between manager and certain squad members. Federico Valverde too had made his frustrations public. The pieces weren’t fitting as they should. A typical grievance began to slip out about all the orders, the film sessions, the lengthy training. Who did he think he was, the manager?!

Over a week after the clásico, Madrid were beaten by Liverpool, starting a sequence of two wins in seven. When adopting a straightforward approach, they overcame Olympiakos and Athletic Bilbao but between those drew at Rayo, Elche and Girona. After a delay, 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 Truce

In Bilbao, where they had been brought together a day early, it seemed some middle ground had been established; Alonso meeting their needs more than they did his. Reconciliation was staged when Vinícius greeted the manager as he departed. A couple of days' rest followed. Four days later, though, Celta overcame them and so it disintegrates anew.

That it is known that Alonso’s future is on the line is as notable as the fact it is. If Madrid beat City, that can always be rebutted, but it is deliberate. Alonso knows that. He also knows, for all that he tried to talk about player absences and unfairness, not even truly convincing himself, Madrid were awful against Celta: no identity, a deficient mentality, an absence of tactical shape.

The Coach: The Simplest Fix

But the simplest fix, is always the manager, and Alonso’s future, more than the sporting matters, dominated the buildup to this game. However much the man who is still Madrid’s manager kept trying to refocus on the match, which he did with almost every response. The shortest answer he gave might have been the most significant, had he truly believed it. Asked if he felt the complete roster was behind him, Alonso replied in a one word: “yes.”

“Being Madrid manager is not about changing [the culture]; it is about adapting,” Alonso stated. “We know the culture of Real Madrid pretty well; that is why it is the biggest club in the world. You have to adapt, learn a lot, interact with the players. Some days are good, some not so good. We have to face that with energy and positivity, that is the only way to turn things around.”

It was when he was asked if he felt isolated that Alonso talked of a team, a club, that goes together, and when attention was turned to the question of support or the lack of it 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.”