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“We are a collective, a single entity, and we are all in this as one,” the manager stated emphatically, maybe protesting a tad forcefully. “When you’re Real Madrid coach you’re ready,” he remarked on the eve before the English champions step back into the Santiago Bernabéu for the latest instalment of a frequent heavyweight clash. “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 shift instantly, and permanently: this chance is an obligation, too.

Crisis Talks After Desperate Setback

Following Madrid’s woefully inadequate 2-0 home defeat on Sunday, Alonso revealed he had “formed his own assessments,” and he was far from the only one. Late into the night, crisis talks persisted, the club’s leadership forming their own opinions after a single win in five league games. Their assessments were divergent and while drastic decisions remain on hold, tolerance has limits, the names of candidates already in the public domain. “These are scenarios you must deal with, yet my mind is fixed only on the game, on what I can influence,” 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. “Losing by two goals to Celta points to a deficiency in our performance, not the coach's planning.”

A Quick Descent After Initial Success

City will be his twenty-eighth match in charge of Madrid and it could be his last at a club where a turmoil is perpetually looming after a few setbacks, where even sharing points is insufficient, and there’s always someone else who can coach. Things have indeed changed fast, even if the origins of the trouble were there from the start. Hailed as a structured planner, exactly what they needed after a season of lack of discipline and disappointment, Alonso was a cultural shock at a star-driven institution.

When Madrid triumphed in El Clásico in late October, they established a five-point lead at the top. They had won 12 of 13 competitive games, although the defeat was emphatic: 5-2 at Atlético. It also revealed cracks. Substituted on 72 minutes, Vinícius Júnior stormed off down the tunnel, reportedly threatening to leave the club. In a missive a few days later he apologised to everyone except Alonso. Institutionally, rather than reinforcing the manager, there was silence.

Frictions Emerging

Within the dressing room, the assessment was evident: Alonso ought not to have substituted Vinícius off. Asked here if he would make the same call, Alonso replied: “The intent behind that question eludes me. When a situation on the pitch demands a choice, I make it.” Tensions had been exposed, a separation between trainer and a portion of the team. Federico Valverde too had voiced his discontent openly. The puzzle pieces weren't aligning as they should. A familiar lament began to surface about all the orders, the video analysis, the lengthy training. Who did he think he was, the manager?!

Over a week after the clásico, Madrid were defeated at Anfield, beginning a run 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. After a delay, talks were held to mend divisions or at least cover cracks, to bring calm. 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 reached; Alonso yielding to their requests more than they did his. A thawing of relations was staged when Vinícius embraced the 44-year-old as he departed. A couple of days' rest followed. A few days after, though, Celta defeated them and so it disintegrates anew.

That it is known that Alonso’s future is under scrutiny is as important as the fact it is. If Madrid beat City, that can always be denied, but it is deliberate. Alonso knows that. He also knows, for all that he tried to talk about injuries and unfairness, not even truly persuading himself, Madrid were awful against Celta: no identity, no attitude, a lack of organization.

The Coach: The Easiest Target

But the most vulnerable point, is always the manager, and Alonso’s future, more than the actual football, was the central theme to this game. However much the man who is still Madrid’s manager kept trying to refocus on 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 entire team was behind him, Alonso replied in a solitary term: “yes.”

“Being Madrid manager is not about changing [the culture]; it is about adapting,” Alonso stated. “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 by himself that Alonso talked of a collective, a club, that goes together, and when attention was turned to the question of backing or its absence from above, he commented: “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.”