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“We are a united club, a team, and we all move forward together,” Xabi Alonso insisted, perhaps asserting a tad forcefully. “When you’re Real Madrid coach you’re ready,” he remarked on the morning before Manchester City visit once more the Santiago Bernabéu for the latest edition of a very modern classic. “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.” Failure and things could change immediately, and permanently: this moment is an imperative, too.

Emergency Discussions After Desperate Setback

Following Madrid’s desperately poor 2-0 loss at their own stadium on Sunday, Alonso revealed he had “drawn conclusions,” and he was far from the only one. Into the early hours, urgent meetings persisted, the club’s board drawing their own conclusions after a single win in five league games. Their diagnoses were not the same and while drastic decisions are being postponed, patience is finite, the names of possible successors 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,” one of the squad's leaders said. “A 2-0 defeat to Celta indicates an issue that lies with us, not the manager.”

A Quick Descent After Early Success

City will be his twenty-eighth match in charge of Madrid and it could be his last at a club where a state of emergency is always just two losses around the corner, where even sharing points is insufficient, and there’s perpetually an alternative who can coach. Things have indeed shifted swiftly, even if the seeds of the problem were there from the start. Sold as a tactical disciplinarian, precisely the required remedy after a season of laissez-faire and failure, Alonso was counter-cultural at a squad-centric organization.

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 defeat was emphatic: 5-2 at Atlético. It also exposed fissures. Taken off after 72 minutes, Vinícius Júnior headed directly for the dressing room, reportedly threatening to leave the club. In a statement a few days later he said sorry to all but Alonso. At the executive level, rather than reinforcing the manager, there was silence.

Frictions Brought to the Surface

Within the dressing room, the conclusion was obvious: Alonso ought not to have substituted Vinícius off. Pressed on the issue if he would repeat that decision, Alonso answered: “The intent behind that question eludes me. When a situation on the pitch demands a choice, I make it.” Tensions had been laid bare, a separation between manager and certain squad members. Federico Valverde too had expressed his irritation publicly. The puzzle pieces weren't aligning as they should. A familiar lament began to slip out about all the instructions, the video analysis, the lengthy training. Who did he think he was, the manager?!

More than a week after the clásico, Madrid were beaten by Liverpool, initiating a spell 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. Eventually, talks were held to fix fault lines or at least cover cracks, to establish peace. Focus shifted to the footballers for the first time.

A Fragile Reconciliation

In Bilbao, where they had been assembled a day early, it seemed some agreement had been reached; Alonso accommodating their demands more than they did his. Rapprochement was staged when Vinícius hugged the manager as he departed. Two days off followed. A few days after, though, Celta beat 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 intentional. Alonso knows that. He also knows, for all that he tried to talk about player absences and injustice, not even truly persuading himself, Madrid were awful against Celta: no identity, a deficient mentality, no structure.

The Manager: 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 redirect attention to the match, which he did with virtually all his replies. The most concise reply he gave might have been the most telling, had he truly believed it. Asked if he felt the whole squad 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 unit, a club, that goes together, and when attention was turned to the question of endorsement or the deficit 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.”