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“We are a united club, a team, and we all move forward together,” Xabi Alonso declared, possibly protesting somewhat excessively. “When you’re Real Madrid coach you’re ready,” he added on the morning before the English champions step back into the Santiago Bernabéu for a new 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”. A defeat and things could change immediately, and definitively: this opportunity is an imperative, too.

Crisis Talks After Desperate Setback

Following Madrid’s utterly disappointing 2-0 home defeat on Sunday, Alonso said he had “drawn conclusions,” and he was in plentiful company. Long after the final whistle, urgent meetings persisted, the club’s board reaching their own verdicts after a mere one victory in five league games. Their assessments were divergent and while radical changes are being postponed, forbearance is running out, the names of potential replacements already circulating. “You have to face those situations but my head’s only on the game, things I can control,” Alonso said here

“Undoubtedly the manager prepared a solid strategy, but ultimately, we the footballers are the ones performing,” the French midfielder stated. “A 2-0 defeat to Celta indicates an issue that lies with us, not the manager.”

A Quick Descent After Initial Success

City will be his twenty-eighth outing in charge of Madrid and it might be his final one 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 shifted swiftly, even if the seeds of the problem were there from the start. Hailed as a systems coach, the ideal solution after a season of permissiveness and underachievement, Alonso was an anomaly at a star-driven institution.

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 setback was significant: 5-2 at Atlético. It also highlighted flaws. Taken off after 72 minutes, Vinícius Júnior stormed off down the tunnel, reportedly threatening to leave the club. In a missive a few days later he said sorry to all but Alonso. At the executive level, rather than reinforcing the manager, there was a conspicuous quiet.

Frictions Coming to Light

Internally, the conclusion was clear: Alonso was wrong to remove Vinícius off. Pressed on the issue if he would make the same call, Alonso replied: “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.” Tensions had been exposed, a disconnect 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 emerge about all the directives, the videos, the lengthy training. Who did he think he was, the manager?!

More than a week after the clásico, Madrid were overcome at Liverpool, starting a sequence of two wins in seven. Able to play direct, they defeated Olympiakos and Athletic Bilbao but between those were held by Rayo, Elche and Girona. Eventually, talks were held to mend divisions or at least cover cracks, to restore tranquility. Focus shifted to the footballers for the first time.

A Fragile Truce

In Bilbao, where they had been gathered a day early, it seemed some compromise had been found; Alonso accommodating their demands more than they did his. A thawing of relations was displayed when Vinícius greeted the 44-year-old as he departed. A brief break followed. A few days after, though, Celta overcame them and so it unravels again.

That it is understood that Alonso’s future is in doubt 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 player absences and injustice, not even truly persuading himself, Madrid were awful against Celta: no identity, a deficient mentality, a lack of organization.

The Manager: The Most Obvious Solution

But the most vulnerable point, is always the manager, and Alonso’s future, more than the sporting matters, 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 almost every response. The shortest answer he gave might have been the most telling, had he truly believed it. Asked if he felt the entire team was behind him, Alonso replied in a solitary term: “yes.”

“Managing Real Madrid doesn't involve transforming the culture; it requires fitting in,” Alonso added. “We understand the ethos of Real Madrid thoroughly; it's what makes it the globe's greatest club. One must adjust, absorb knowledge, engage with the squad. Certain days bring success, others less so. We must confront this with vigor and optimism; it's the sole path to reversal.”

It was when he was asked if he felt isolated that Alonso talked of a collective, a club, that goes hand in hand, and when attention was turned to the question of support or the lack of it from above, he replied: “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.”