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“This is a team, it is a club, and we all go together hand in hand,” the manager declared, perhaps affirming somewhat excessively. “Being the manager of Real Madrid means you are always prepared,” he added on the morning before Pep Guardiola's side step back into the Santiago Bernabéu for the latest meeting 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.” A defeat and things could shift instantly, and definitively: this opportunity is an imperative, too.

Emergency Discussions After Poor Home Defeat

Following Madrid’s desperately poor 2-0 setback on Sunday, Alonso stated he had “formed his own assessments,” and he was in plentiful company. Into the early hours, urgent meetings continued, the club’s hierarchy reaching their own verdicts after a mere one victory in five league games. Their assessments were not the same and while drastic decisions are being postponed, tolerance has limits, the names of possible successors already out. “One must confront such circumstances, but my focus is solely on the match, on elements within my power,” Alonso commented

“Undoubtedly the manager prepared a solid strategy, but ultimately, we the footballers are the ones performing,” the French midfielder said. “If we lost 2-0 to Celta, there’s a problem that’s on us: it’s not the coach’s fault.”

A Quick Decline After Initial Success

City will be his twenty-eighth outing in charge of Madrid and it might be his final one at a club where a state of emergency is perpetually looming after a few setbacks, where even ties are unacceptable, and there’s invariably another candidate 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, precisely the required remedy after a season of permissiveness and underachievement, Alonso was a cultural shock at a players’ club.

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 defeat was emphatic: 5-2 at Atlético. It also revealed cracks. Taken off after 72 minutes, Vinícius Júnior headed directly for the dressing room, seemingly ready to quit the club. In a missive a few days later he expressed regret to all apart from Alonso. At the executive level, rather than backing the coach, there was silence.

Strains Coming to Light

Behind the scenes, the assessment was evident: Alonso shouldn’t have taken Vinícius off. Questioned on this point 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.” Frictions had been laid bare, a separation between trainer and a portion of the team. Federico Valverde too had expressed his irritation publicly. The components weren't meshing as they should. A typical grievance began to slip out about all the orders, the video analysis, the lengthy training. Who did he think he was, the manager?!

Nine days after the clásico, Madrid were defeated at Anfield, initiating a spell 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 repair cracks or at least paper over the issues, to restore tranquility. Focus turned on the footballers for the first time.

A Short-Lived Truce

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

That it is known that Alonso’s future is in doubt is as important as the fact it is. If Madrid beat City, that can always be rebutted, but it is calculated. 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: no identity, no attitude, an absence of tactical shape.

The Coach: The Most Obvious Solution

But the weakest link, is always the manager, and Alonso’s future, more than the actual football, overshadowed the preparation 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 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 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. “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 collective, a club, that goes hand in hand, and when attention was turned to the question of support or the lack of it from above, he commented: “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.”