Xabi Alonso Navigating a Fine Line at Real Madrid Despite Dressing Room Endorsement.

No offensive player in Los Blancos' record books had endured scoreless for as long as Rodrygo, but finally he was unleashed and he had a declaration to broadcast, acted out for public consumption. The Brazilian, who had been goalless in nine months and was beginning only his fifth game this term, beat shot-stopper Gianluigi Donnarumma to hand his team the advantage against the English champions. Then he wheeled and charged towards the bench to hug Xabi Alonso, the boss under pressure for whom this could prove an even greater liberation.

“It’s a tough time for him, like it is for us,” Rodrygo stated. “Results aren’t coming off and I aimed to prove the public that we are as one with the coach.”

By the time Rodrygo made his comments, the lead had been taken from them, another loss following. City had reversed the score, going 2-1 ahead with “not much”, Alonso noted. That can transpire when you’re in a “fragile” condition, he added, but at least Madrid had reacted. Ultimately, they could not pull off a recovery. Endrick, on as a substitute having played 11 minutes all season, hit the bar in the final seconds.

A Suspended Sentence

“The effort fell short,” Rodrygo admitted. The issue was whether it would be sufficient for Alonso to keep his job. “We didn't view it as [this was a trial of the coach],” veteran keeper Thibaut Courtois insisted, but that was how it had been portrayed in the media, and how it was felt privately. “Our performance proved that we’re with the manager: we have played well, provided 100%,” Courtois affirmed. And so judgment was postponed, sentencing suspended, with fixtures against Alavés and Sevilla looming.

A Distinct Type of Loss

Madrid had been overcome at home for the second occasion in four days, extending their poor form to a mere pair of successes in eight, but this was a more respectable. This was a European powerhouse, not a La Liga opponent. Stripped down, they had competed with intensity, the most obvious and most damning charge not aimed at them this time. With eight men out injured, they had lost only to a scrambled finish and a penalty, nearly salvaging something at the final whistle. There were “many of very good things” about this performance, the head coach said, and there could be “no blame” of his players, not this time.

The Stadium's Muted Reaction

That was not entirely the case. There were moments in the closing 45 minutes, as frustration grew, when the Santiago Bernabéu had whistled. At full time, a portion of supporters had done so again, although there was also pockets of appreciation. But for the most part, there was a quiet flow to the doors. “It's to be expected, we understand it,” Rodrygo noted. Alonso remarked: “It’s nothing that hasn’t happened before. And there were moments when they clapped too.”

Dressing Room Backing Is Strong

“I feel the backing of the players,” Alonso said. And if he supported them, they backed him too, at least in front of the public. There has been a coming together, talks: the coach had considered them, perhaps more than they had embraced him, finding common ground not quite in the middle.

The longevity of a solution that is is still an open question. One small exchange in the post-match press conference seemed significant. Asked about Pep Guardiola’s suggestion to stick to his principles, Alonso had permitted that idea to remain unanswered, answering: “I share a good rapport with Pep, we understand each other well and he knows what he is implying.”

A Starting Point of Resistance

Most importantly though, he could be pleased that there was a resistance, a reaction. Madrid’s players had not abandoned their coach during the game and after it they publicly backed him. Part of it may have been for show, done out of duty or self-interest, but in this climate, it was meaningful. The effort with which they played had been equally so – even if there is a risk of the most elementary of requirements somehow being promoted as a kind of achievement.

In the build-up, Aurélien Tchouaméni had argued the coach had a strategy, that their shortcomings were not his doing. “In my view my teammate Aurélien put it perfectly in the press conference,” Raúl Asencio said after full-time. “The only way is [for] the players to alter the mindset. The attitude is the linchpin and today we have seen a shift.”

Jude Bellingham, pressed if they were with the coach, also answered with a figure: “100%.”

“We are continuing attempting to figure it out in the locker room,” he continued. “We know that the [outside] noise will not be productive so it is about attempting to resolve it in there.”

“In my opinion the coach has been excellent. I individually have a excellent rapport with him,” Bellingham added. “Following the spell of games where we tied a few, we had some honest conversations internally.”

“Everything passes in the end,” Alonso concluded, possibly speaking as much about adversity as anything else.