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“This is a team, it is a club, and we all go together hand in hand,” the manager stated emphatically, maybe affirming a little too much. “When you’re Real Madrid coach you’re ready,” he remarked on the eve before Manchester City return to the Santiago Bernabéu for another meeting of a very modern classic. “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”. Losing and things could alter for good, and definitively: this moment is an obligation, too.

Crisis Talks After Poor Home Defeat

Following Madrid’s desperately poor 2-0 loss at their own stadium on Sunday, Alonso said he had “drawn conclusions,” and he was in plentiful company. Into the early hours, urgent meetings continued, the club’s board reaching their own verdicts after a single win in five league games. Their analyses were divergent and while severe measures remain on hold, forbearance is running out, the names of possible successors already out. “You have to face those situations but my head’s only on the game, things I can control,” 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 remarked. “Losing by two goals to Celta points to a deficiency in our performance, not the coach's planning.”

A Swift Decline After Early Success

City will be his twenty-eighth outing in charge of Madrid and it might be his final one at a club where a turmoil is always just two losses around the corner, where even ties are unacceptable, and there’s perpetually an alternative who can coach. Things have indeed evolved rapidly, even if the origins of the trouble were there from the start. Presented as a systems coach, 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 secured twelve victories in thirteen competitive games, although the loss had been heavy: 5-2 at Atlético. It also revealed cracks. Taken off after 72 minutes, Vinícius Júnior headed directly for the dressing room, seemingly ready to quit the club. In a statement a few days later he said sorry to all but Alonso. Institutionally, rather than backing the coach, there was a conspicuous quiet.

Tensions Emerging

Internally, the assessment was clear: Alonso was wrong to remove Vinícius off. Pressed on the issue if he would make the same call, Alonso answered: “The intent behind that question eludes me. When a situation on the pitch demands a choice, I make it.” Strains had been exposed, a separation between coach and some players. Federico Valverde too had made his frustrations public. The components weren't meshing as they should. A typical grievance began to slip out about all the instructions, the video analysis, the long sessions. Who did he think he was, the manager?!

More than a week after the clásico, Madrid were defeated at Anfield, starting a sequence of two wins in seven. Able to play direct, they defeated Olympiakos and Athletic Bilbao but between those drew at Rayo, Elche and Girona. After a delay, talks were held to mend divisions or at least paper over the issues, to bring calm. Focus turned on the footballers for the first time.

A Fragile Truce

In Bilbao, where they had been gathered a day early, it seemed some agreement had been reached; Alonso accommodating their demands more than they did his. Rapprochement was staged when Vinícius embraced the manager as he departed. A brief break followed. Subsequently, though, Celta overcame them and so it falls apart once more.

That it is public knowledge that Alonso’s future is on the line is as notable as the fact it is. If Madrid beat City, that can always be disputed, but it is deliberate. 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 dreadful against Celta: no identity, no attitude, a lack of organization.

The Gaffer: The Simplest Fix

But the weakest link, is always the manager, and Alonso’s future, more than the on-pitch performance, overshadowed the preparation 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 telling, had he truly believed it. Asked if he felt the complete roster was behind him, Alonso replied in a single word: “yes.”

“Managing Real Madrid doesn't involve transforming the culture; it requires fitting in,” 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 unit, a club, that goes in unison, and when attention was turned to the question of backing or its absence from above, he replied: “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.”