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“This is a team, it is a club, and we all go together hand in hand,” the Real Madrid coach stated emphatically, perhaps asserting a little too much. “If you coach Real Madrid, you are prepared for anything,” he continued on the eve before Manchester City visit once more the Santiago Bernabéu for a new instalment of a contemporary rivalry. “I anticipate the challenge ahead, starting tomorrow—an opening to redirect the disappointment. Our minds are fixed solely on City. Football, for better or worse, is a game of swift changes.” Losing and things could change immediately, and definitively: this chance is an duty, too.

Urgent Meetings After Dismal Home Defeat

Following Madrid’s utterly disappointing 2-0 home defeat on Sunday, Alonso revealed he had “formed his own assessments,” and he was not alone. Long after the final whistle, crisis talks carried on, the club’s leadership forming their own opinions after a mere one victory in five league games. Their analyses were divergent and while severe measures are temporarily shelved, patience is finite, the names of candidates already out. “You have to face those situations but my head’s only on the game, things I can control,” Alonso said here

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

A Swift Decline After Initial Success

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 perpetually looming after a few setbacks, where even draws will not do, and there’s invariably another candidate who can coach. Things have indeed changed fast, even if the roots of the crisis were there from the start. Sold as a systems coach, precisely the required remedy after a season of permissiveness and underachievement, Alonso was an anomaly at a squad-centric organization.

When Madrid triumphed in El Clásico in late October, they established a five-point lead at the top. They had triumphed in twelve out of thirteen competitive games, although the defeat was emphatic: 5-2 at Atlético. It also highlighted flaws. Substituted on 72 minutes, Vinícius Júnior headed directly for the dressing room, reportedly threatening to leave the club. In a letter a few days later he apologised to everyone except Alonso. From the club's leadership, rather than backing the coach, there was radio silence.

Strains Coming to Light

Internally, the assessment was clear: Alonso ought not to have substituted Vinícius off. Questioned on this point if he would do that again, Alonso responded: “The intent behind that question eludes me. When a situation on the pitch demands a choice, I make it.” Frictions had been laid bare, a disconnect between manager and certain squad members. Federico Valverde too had expressed his irritation publicly. The puzzle pieces weren't aligning as they should. A common complaint began to slip out about all the directives, 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, initiating a spell of two wins in seven. Capable of a more direct style, they overcame Olympiakos and Athletic Bilbao but between those drew at Rayo, Elche and Girona. After a delay, talks were held to repair cracks or at least mask the problems, to restore tranquility. Focus was directed at the footballers for the first time.

A Short-Lived Reconciliation

In Bilbao, where they had been assembled a day early, it seemed some compromise had been reached; Alonso accommodating their demands more than they did his. Reconciliation was orchestrated when Vinícius hugged the manager as he departed. Two days off followed. Subsequently, though, Celta overcame them and so it falls apart once more.

That it is known that Alonso’s future is in doubt is as notable as the fact it is. If Madrid beat City, that can always be disputed, but it is deliberate. Alonso knows that. He also knows, for all that he tried to talk about injuries and bad luck, not even truly convincing himself, Madrid were awful against Celta: an absence of character, a deficient mentality, an absence of tactical shape.

The Manager: The Easiest Target

But the most vulnerable point, is always the manager, and Alonso’s future, more than the sporting matters, overshadowed the preparation to this game. However much the man who is still Madrid’s manager kept trying to refocus on the match, which he did with almost every response. The most concise reply he gave might have been the most telling, had he truly believed it. Asked if he felt the whole squad was behind him, Alonso replied in a solitary term: “yes.”

“Being Madrid manager is not about changing [the culture]; it is about adapting,” Alonso added. “We understand the ethos of Real Madrid thoroughly; it's what makes it the globe's greatest club. One must adjust, absorb knowledge, engage with the squad. Certain days bring success, others less so. We must confront this with vigor and optimism; it's the sole path to reversal.”

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.”