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“We are a united club, a team, and we all move forward together,” Xabi Alonso insisted, perhaps protesting a little too much. “When you’re Real Madrid coach you’re ready,” he remarked on the morning before the English champions step back into the Santiago Bernabéu for the latest instalment of a very modern classic. “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.” A defeat and things could shift instantly, and definitively: this moment is an obligation, too.

Crisis Talks After Dismal Home Defeat

Following Madrid’s woefully inadequate 2-0 home defeat on Sunday, Alonso revealed he had “formed his own assessments,” and he was in plentiful company. Into the early hours, emergency discussions persisted, the club’s leadership drawing their own conclusions after a single win in five league games. Their diagnoses were divergent and while radical changes remain on hold, patience is finite, the names of potential replacements already out. “You have to face those situations but my head’s only on the game, things I can control,” Alonso commented

“For sure the coach had a good plan but, in the end we, the players, are the ones on the pitch,” the French midfielder remarked. “A 2-0 defeat to Celta indicates an issue that lies with us, not the manager.”

A Rapid 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 perpetually looming after a few setbacks, where even sharing points is insufficient, and there’s invariably another candidate who can coach. Things have indeed evolved rapidly, even if the seeds of the problem were there from the start. Sold as a structured planner, exactly what they needed after a season of permissiveness and underachievement, Alonso was counter-cultural at a squad-centric organization.

When Madrid won the clásico in late October, they opened a five-point gap at the top. They had won 12 of 13 competitive games, although the loss had been heavy: 5-2 at Atlético. It also exposed fissures. Taken off after 72 minutes, Vinícius Júnior marched straight down the tunnel, threatening to walk straight out the club. In a letter a few days later he expressed regret to all apart from Alonso. From the club's leadership, rather than reinforcing the manager, there was silence.

Tensions Coming to Light

Internally, the conclusion was evident: Alonso shouldn’t have taken Vinícius off. Pressed on the issue if he would repeat that decision, Alonso responded: “I don’t know what that question is for. If I see in the moment that I have to take a decision on the pitch, I do.” Frictions had been brought to the surface, a separation between trainer and a portion of the team. Federico Valverde too had voiced his discontent openly. The pieces weren’t fitting as they should. A typical grievance began to slip out about all the orders, the videos, the long sessions. Who did he think he was, the manager?!

Over a week after the clásico, Madrid were defeated at Anfield, starting a sequence 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. Belatedly, talks were held to mend divisions or at least paper over the issues, to restore tranquility. Focus turned on the footballers for the first time.

A Temporary Truce

In Bilbao, where they had been brought together a day early, it seemed some agreement had been found; Alonso yielding to their requests more than they did his. Rapprochement was orchestrated when Vinícius greeted the coach as he departed. A couple of days' rest followed. Subsequently, though, Celta overcame them and so it falls apart once more.

That it is understood that Alonso’s future is under scrutiny is as important 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 injuries and injustice, not even truly believing his own words, Madrid were terrible against Celta: no identity, no attitude, an absence of tactical shape.

The Coach: The Easiest Target

But the weakest link, is always the manager, and Alonso’s future, more than the actual football, 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 nearly each answer. The most concise reply he gave might have been the most revealing, had he truly believed it. Asked if he felt the entire team was behind him, Alonso replied in a one word: “yes.”

“The role of Real Madrid coach isn't to alter the culture; it is to adjust,” Alonso continued. “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 unit, a club, that goes hand in hand, and when attention was turned to the question of backing or its absence from above, he answered: “Dialogue with the leadership is ongoing, founded on trust, togetherness, and mutual respect. We are all united in this endeavor. We are psychologically prepared for any challenge: the squad is unified, certain of victory tomorrow, without a shadow of doubt. This is the Champions League. We are playing at the Bernabéu. The environment will be electric. That generates a unique dynamism, even among the players.”