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“This is a team, it is a club, and we all go together hand in hand,” the Real Madrid coach insisted, perhaps protesting somewhat excessively. “When you’re Real Madrid coach you’re ready,” he remarked on the morning before the English champions return to the Santiago Bernabéu for a new 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.” Failure and things could change immediately, and for good: this opportunity is an duty, too.

Emergency Discussions After Dismal Home Defeat

Following Madrid’s desperately poor 2-0 setback on Sunday, Alonso revealed he had “reached some conclusions,” and he was far from the only one. Into the early hours, urgent meetings persisted, the club’s hierarchy reaching their own verdicts after a solitary triumph in five league games. Their diagnoses were different and while radical changes are being postponed, patience is finite, the names of possible successors already in the public domain. “You have to face those situations but my head’s only on the game, things I can control,” Alonso stated in the press conference

“Undoubtedly the manager prepared a solid strategy, but ultimately, we the footballers are the ones performing,” the French midfielder said. “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 might be his final one at a club where a turmoil is always just two losses around the corner, where even draws will not do, and there’s perpetually an alternative who can coach. Things have indeed shifted swiftly, even if the origins of the trouble were there from the start. Presented as a tactical disciplinarian, precisely the required remedy after a season of laissez-faire and failure, 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 setback was significant: 5-2 at Atlético. It also revealed cracks. Taken off after 72 minutes, Vinícius Júnior headed directly for the dressing room, reportedly threatening to leave the club. In a missive 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.

Strains Emerging

Internally, the conclusion was evident: Alonso shouldn’t have taken Vinícius off. Questioned on this point if he would do that again, 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.” Strains had been brought to the surface, a separation between manager and certain squad members. Federico Valverde too had expressed his irritation publicly. The pieces weren’t fitting as they should. A familiar lament began to surface about all the instructions, the film sessions, the extended practices. Who did he think he was, the manager?!

More than a week after the clásico, Madrid were beaten by Liverpool, beginning a run of two wins in seven. When adopting a straightforward approach, they defeated Olympiakos and Athletic Bilbao but between those were held by Rayo, Elche and Girona. After a delay, talks were held to fix fault lines or at least paper over the issues, to bring calm. Focus turned on the footballers for the first time.

A Short-Lived Truce

In Bilbao, where they had been assembled a day early, it seemed some middle ground had been found; Alonso accommodating their demands more than they did his. A thawing of relations was staged when Vinícius embraced the coach as he departed. A brief break followed. Subsequently, though, Celta beat them and so it disintegrates anew.

That it is public knowledge that Alonso’s future is in doubt is as important as the fact it is. If Madrid beat City, that can always be disputed, but it is calculated. Alonso knows that. He also knows, for all that he tried to talk about player absences and injustice, not even truly convincing himself, Madrid were dreadful against Celta: an absence of character, poor commitment, an absence of tactical shape.

The Gaffer: The Most Obvious Solution

But the most vulnerable point, is always the manager, and Alonso’s future, more than the sporting matters, dominated the buildup 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 significant, had he truly believed it. Asked if he felt the whole squad was behind him, Alonso replied in a single word: “yes.”

“The role of Real Madrid coach isn't to alter the culture; it is to adjust,” 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 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.”