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“We are a collective, a single entity, and we are all in this as one,” the manager stated emphatically, possibly affirming somewhat excessively. “Being the manager of Real Madrid means you are always prepared,” he continued on the eve before Manchester City visit once more the Santiago Bernabéu for the latest 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”. Losing and things could alter for good, and permanently: this chance is an duty, too.

Urgent Meetings After Dismal Home Defeat

Following Madrid’s desperately poor 2-0 loss at their own stadium on Sunday, Alonso said he had “formed his own assessments,” and he was far from the only one. Late into the night, urgent meetings continued, the club’s leadership drawing their own conclusions after a single win in five league games. Their assessments were different and while drastic decisions are being postponed, tolerance has limits, the names of candidates already circulating. “These are scenarios you must deal with, yet my mind is fixed only on the game, on what I can influence,” Alonso commented

“Certainly the trainer devised an effective approach, but when it comes down to it, the players execute on the field,” one of the squad's leaders stated. “Losing by two goals to Celta points to a deficiency in our performance, not the coach's planning.”

A Quick Decline After Initial Promise

City will be his twenty-eighth outing in charge of Madrid and it may prove to be his farewell at a club where a turmoil is always just two losses around the corner, where even sharing points is insufficient, 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. Hailed as a systems coach, exactly what they needed after a season of permissiveness and underachievement, Alonso was an anomaly at a players’ club.

When Madrid triumphed in El Clásico in late October, they moved five points ahead at the top. They had triumphed in twelve out of thirteen competitive games, although the defeat was emphatic: 5-2 at Atlético. It also exposed fissures. Replaced in the 72nd minute, Vinícius Júnior marched straight down the tunnel, reportedly threatening to leave the club. In a missive a few days later he said sorry to all but Alonso. From the club's leadership, rather than supporting the trainer, there was a conspicuous quiet.

Tensions Emerging

Internally, the assessment was clear: Alonso was wrong to remove Vinícius off. Questioned on this point if he would make the same call, Alonso answered: “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 laid bare, 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 slip out about all the directives, the film sessions, the lengthy training. Who did he think he was, the manager?!

Nine days after the clásico, Madrid were defeated at Anfield, starting a sequence of two wins in seven. Able to play direct, they overcame 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 establish peace. Focus turned on the footballers for the first time.

A Fragile Rapprochement

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 displayed when Vinícius hugged the 44-year-old as he departed. Two days off followed. Subsequently, though, Celta defeated them and so it falls apart once more.

That it is known that Alonso’s future is on the line is as important as the fact it is. If Madrid beat City, that can always be denied, but it is intentional. Alonso knows that. He also knows, for all that he tried to talk about fitness issues and bad luck, not even truly persuading himself, Madrid were dreadful against Celta: an absence of character, poor commitment, a lack of organization.

The Coach: The Most Obvious Solution

But the weakest link, is always the manager, and Alonso’s future, more than the on-pitch performance, was the central theme to this game. However much the man who is still Madrid’s manager kept trying to bring it back to the match, which he did with virtually all his replies. The shortest answer he gave might have been the most revealing, had he truly believed it. Asked if he felt the complete roster was behind him, Alonso replied in a single word: “yes.”

“Managing Real Madrid doesn't involve transforming the culture; it requires fitting in,” 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 together, and when attention was turned to the question of support or the lack of it 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.”