Xabi Alonso Walking a Thin Path at the Bernabéu Despite Player Support.

No attacker in the club's record books had endured scoreless for as extended a period as Rodrygo, but eventually he was released and he had a statement to send, acted out for the world to see. The Brazilian, who had failed to score in nine months and was starting only his fifth game this season, beat custodian Gianluigi Donnarumma to hand his team the lead against Pep Guardiola's side. Then he turned and sprinted towards the bench to hug Xabi Alonso, the boss on the edge for whom this could represent an more significant liberation.

“It’s a tough time for him, similar to how it is for us,” Rodrygo commented. “Performances aren’t coming off and I sought to prove the public that we are together with the coach.”

By the time Rodrygo made his comments, the lead had been taken from them, a defeat taking its place. City had come back, going 2-1 ahead with “very little”, Alonso observed. That can transpire when you’re in a “sensitive” condition, he added, but at least Madrid had reacted. Ultimately, they could not complete a recovery. Endrick, on as a substitute having played a handful of minutes all season, hit the bar in the dying moments.

A Reserved Judgment

“It wasn’t enough,” Rodrygo admitted. The issue was whether it would be enough for Alonso to hold onto his position. “We didn’t feel that [this was a trial of the coach],” veteran keeper Thibaut Courtois remarked, but that was how it had been presented externally, and how it was understood behind closed doors. “Our performance proved that we’re behind the coach: we have performed creditably, provided 100%,” Courtois concluded. And so the axe was reserved, consequences delayed, with fixtures against Alavés and Sevilla looming.

A Different Kind of Setback

Madrid had been beaten at home for the second match in four days, extending their poor form to a mere pair of successes in eight, but this was a little different. This was the Premier League champions, not a La Liga opponent. Simplified, they had competed with intensity, the easiest and most critical criticism not levelled at them on this night. With a host of first-teamers out injured, they had lost only to a scrambled finish and a converted penalty, nearly securing something at the final whistle. There were “a lot of very good things” about this showing, the head coach stated, and there could be “no blame” of his players, tonight.

The Fans' Ambivalent Reaction

That was not completely the case. There were periods in the latter period, as frustration grew, when the Santiago Bernabéu had whistled. At full time, a section of supporters had continued, although there was in addition some applause. But mostly, there was a quiet stream to the doors. “We understand that, we comprehend it,” Rodrygo noted. Alonso stated: “There's nothing that hasn’t happened before. And there were instances when they clapped too.”

Squad Unity Stands Evident

“I sense the backing of the players,” Alonso declared. And if he stood by them, they stood by him too, at least in front of the media. There has been a rapprochement, talks: the coach had considered them, maybe more than they had accommodated him, finding a point not exactly in the compromise.

The longevity of a fix that is remains an unresolved issue. One small exchange in the post-match press conference seemed notable. Asked about Pep Guardiola’s counsel to do things his way, Alonso had permitted that idea to remain unanswered, answering: “I have a good connection with Pep, we know each other well and he knows what he is saying.”

A Foundation of Fight

Above all though, he could be satisfied that there was a spirit, a reaction. Madrid’s players had not let Alonso fall during the game and after it they publicly backed him. Some of this may have been theatrical, done out of professionalism or self-preservation, but in this context, it was significant. The intensity with which they played had been equally so – even if there is a risk of the most elementary of expectations somehow being framed as a type of achievement.

Earlier, Aurélien Tchouaméni had insisted the coach had a vision, that their failings were not his doing. “I believe my teammate Aurélien said it in the press conference,” Raúl Asencio said post-match. “The only way is [for] the players to change the mindset. The attitude is the linchpin and today we have seen a change.”

Jude Bellingham, questioned if they were supporting the coach, also responded in numbers: “100%.”

“We’re still trying to work it out in the changing room,” he said. “We know that the [outside] speculation will not be beneficial so it is about trying to resolve it in there.”

“In my opinion the coach has been excellent. I myself have a excellent connection with him,” Bellingham concluded. “After the sequence of games where we tied a few, we had some very productive conversations among ourselves.”

“All things concludes in the end,” Alonso mused, maybe talking as much about poor form as his own predicament.