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“We are a collective, a single entity, and we are all in this as one,” Xabi Alonso stated emphatically, maybe protesting a tad forcefully. “When you’re Real Madrid coach you’re ready,” he added on the morning before Pep Guardiola's side return to the Santiago Bernabéu for another 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 change immediately, and for good: this moment is an duty, too.

Crisis Talks After Poor Loss at the Bernabéu

Following Madrid’s woefully inadequate 2-0 home defeat on Sunday, Alonso stated he had “reached some conclusions,” and he was far from the only one. Long after the final whistle, urgent meetings persisted, the club’s hierarchy reaching their own verdicts after a mere one victory in five league games. Their diagnoses were divergent and while radical changes remain on hold, tolerance has limits, the names of candidates already out. “These are scenarios you must deal with, yet my mind is fixed only on the game, on what I can influence,” Alonso stated in the press conference

“For sure the coach had a good plan but, in the end we, the players, are the ones on the pitch,” Aurélien Tchouaméni remarked. “If we lost 2-0 to Celta, there’s a problem that’s on us: it’s not the coach’s fault.”

A Rapid Decline After Early Success

City will be his twenty-eighth match in charge of Madrid and it might be his final one at a club where a state of emergency is never more than a couple of defeats away, where even ties are unacceptable, and there’s invariably another candidate who can coach. Things have indeed changed fast, even if the seeds of the problem were there from the start. Hailed as a structured planner, exactly what they needed after a season of laissez-faire and failure, 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 loss had been heavy: 5-2 at Atlético. It also revealed cracks. Replaced in the 72nd minute, Vinícius Júnior headed directly for the dressing room, threatening to walk straight out the club. In a statement a few days later he expressed regret to all apart from Alonso. From the club's leadership, rather than reinforcing the manager, there was radio silence.

Strains Coming to Light

Internally, the assessment was evident: Alonso was wrong to remove Vinícius off. Pressed on the issue if he would do that again, 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.” Strains had been exposed, a disconnect between coach and some players. Federico Valverde too had voiced his discontent openly. The components weren't meshing as they should. A common complaint began to surface about all the directives, the film sessions, the extended practices. Who did he think he was, the manager?!

Nine days after the clásico, Madrid were overcome at Liverpool, beginning a run of two wins in seven. When adopting a straightforward approach, they overcame Olympiakos and Athletic Bilbao but between those tied with Rayo, Elche and Girona. Eventually, talks were held to mend divisions or at least mask the problems, to bring calm. Focus turned on the footballers for the first time.

A Fragile Reconciliation

In Bilbao, where they had been brought together a day early, it seemed some agreement had been found; Alonso meeting their needs more than they did his. Reconciliation was displayed when Vinícius greeted the coach as he departed. Two days off followed. A few days after, though, Celta overcame them and so it falls apart once more.

That it is understood that Alonso’s future is on the line is as significant as the fact it is. If Madrid beat City, that can always be rebutted, but it is deliberate. Alonso knows that. He also knows, for all that he tried to talk about fitness issues and unfairness, not even truly convincing himself, Madrid were dreadful against Celta: a lack of style, no attitude, a lack of organization.

The Manager: The Simplest Fix

But the weakest link, 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 significant, had he truly believed it. Asked if he felt the whole squad 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 know the culture of Real Madrid pretty well; that is why it is the biggest club in the world. You have to adapt, learn a lot, interact with the players. Some days are good, some not so good. We have to face that with energy and positivity, that is the only way to turn things around.”

It was when he was asked if he felt by himself 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 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.”