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“This is a team, it is a club, and we all go together hand in hand,” Xabi Alonso stated emphatically, perhaps affirming a tad forcefully. “When you’re Real Madrid coach you’re ready,” he remarked on the day before Manchester City step back into the Santiago Bernabéu for the latest instalment of a contemporary rivalry. “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 shift instantly, and definitively: this moment is an imperative, too.

Emergency Discussions After Poor Setback

Following Madrid’s woefully inadequate 2-0 home defeat on Sunday, Alonso stated he had “reached some conclusions,” and he was not alone. Long after the final whistle, crisis talks persisted, the club’s leadership reaching their own verdicts after a solitary triumph in five league games. Their assessments were different and while severe measures remain on hold, forbearance is running out, 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 stated in the press conference

“For sure the coach had a good plan but, in the end we, the players, are the ones on the pitch,” Aurélien Tchouaméni remarked. “Losing by two goals to Celta points to a deficiency in our performance, not the coach's planning.”

A Quick Decline 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 crisis 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 origins of the trouble were there from the start. Hailed as a tactical disciplinarian, the ideal solution after a season of lack of discipline and disappointment, Alonso was a cultural shock at a squad-centric organization.

When Madrid secured victory against Barcelona in late October, they moved five points ahead at the top. They had won 12 of 13 competitive games, although the defeat was emphatic: 5-2 at Atlético. It also exposed fissures. Substituted on 72 minutes, Vinícius Júnior marched straight down the tunnel, threatening to walk straight out the club. In a statement a few days later he expressed regret to all apart from Alonso. From the club's leadership, rather than reinforcing the manager, there was radio silence.

Tensions Emerging

Internally, the conclusion was evident: Alonso was wrong to remove Vinícius off. Questioned on this point if he would make the same call, 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.” Tensions had been exposed, a rift between trainer and a portion of the team. Federico Valverde too had expressed his irritation publicly. The components weren't meshing as they should. A familiar lament began to slip out about all the directives, the film sessions, the long sessions. Who did he think he was, the manager?!

Nine days after the clásico, Madrid were defeated at Anfield, starting a sequence of two wins in seven. Able to play direct, they beat Olympiakos and Athletic Bilbao but between those were held by Rayo, Elche and Girona. Eventually, talks were held to fix fault lines or at least cover cracks, to bring calm. Focus shifted to the footballers for the first time.

A Short-Lived Rapprochement

In Bilbao, where they had been assembled a day early, it seemed some compromise had been found; Alonso accommodating their demands more than they did his. Reconciliation was displayed when Vinícius hugged the coach as he departed. A brief break followed. Subsequently, though, Celta defeated them and so it falls apart once more.

That it is known that Alonso’s future is in doubt 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 fitness issues and unfairness, not even truly persuading himself, Madrid were dreadful against Celta: no identity, no attitude, a lack of organization.

The Coach: The Simplest Fix

But the weakest link, is always the manager, and Alonso’s future, more than the on-pitch performance, was the central theme 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 shortest answer he gave might have been the most revealing, had he truly believed it. Asked if he felt the whole squad was behind him, Alonso replied in a solitary term: “yes.”

“The role of Real Madrid coach isn't to alter the culture; it is to adjust,” Alonso added. “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 alone that Alonso talked of a team, a club, that goes hand in hand, and when attention was turned to the question of backing or its absence from above, he answered: “Our contact with the board is continuous, stemming from belief, solidarity, and care. We stand as one in this situation. Our mindset is geared to confront all obstacles: the team is cohesive, fully believing we can triumph tomorrow, with absolute certainty. It's the Champions League. The Bernabéu is our stage. The ambiance will be unforgettable. That fosters a distinct vitality, particularly within the squad.”