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“We are a collective, a single entity, and we are all in this as one,” the Real Madrid coach insisted, possibly asserting a tad forcefully. “If you coach Real Madrid, you are prepared for anything,” he remarked on the morning before Manchester City 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 imperative, too.

Emergency Discussions After Dismal Setback

Following Madrid’s desperately poor 2-0 setback on Sunday, Alonso stated he had “reached some conclusions,” and he was in plentiful company. Into the early hours, emergency discussions persisted, the club’s board drawing their own conclusions after a solitary triumph in five league games. Their assessments were different and while radical changes are temporarily shelved, tolerance has limits, the names of potential replacements already in the public domain. “You have to face those situations but my head’s only on the game, things I can control,” Alonso commented

“For sure the coach had a good plan but, in the end we, the players, are the ones on the pitch,” Aurélien Tchouaméni remarked. “Losing by two goals to Celta points to a deficiency in our performance, not the coach's planning.”

A Swift Descent After Initial Promise

City will be his twenty-eighth match in charge of Madrid and it may prove to be his farewell at a club where a crisis 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 evolved rapidly, even if the roots of the crisis were there from the start. Sold as a structured planner, the ideal solution 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 secured twelve victories in thirteen competitive games, although the loss had been heavy: 5-2 at Atlético. It also highlighted flaws. Taken off after 72 minutes, Vinícius Júnior headed directly for the dressing room, threatening to walk straight out the club. In a statement a few days later he said sorry to all but Alonso. At the executive level, rather than supporting the trainer, there was a conspicuous quiet.

Tensions Coming to Light

Internally, the conclusion was clear: Alonso was wrong to remove Vinícius off. Pressed on the issue 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.” Tensions had been laid bare, a separation between trainer and a portion of the team. 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 long sessions. Who did he think he was, the manager?!

More than a week after the clásico, Madrid were defeated at Anfield, beginning a run of two wins in seven. Able to play direct, they overcame Olympiakos and Athletic Bilbao but between those tied with Rayo, Elche and Girona. After a delay, talks were held to fix fault lines or at least paper over the issues, to restore tranquility. Focus turned on the footballers for the first time.

A Temporary Rapprochement

In Bilbao, where they had been gathered a day early, it seemed some agreement had been found; Alonso yielding to their requests more than they did his. Rapprochement was staged when Vinícius hugged the coach as he departed. A couple of days' rest followed. A few days after, though, Celta beat them and so it falls apart once more.

That it is understood that Alonso’s future is on the line is as important as the fact it is. If Madrid beat City, that can always be rebutted, but it is intentional. Alonso knows that. He also knows, for all that he tried to talk about fitness issues and injustice, not even truly persuading himself, Madrid were awful against Celta: an absence of character, no attitude, no structure.

The Coach: The Easiest Target

But the simplest fix, 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 refocus on 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 entire team was behind him, Alonso replied in a solitary term: “yes.”

“Managing Real Madrid doesn't involve transforming the culture; it requires fitting in,” Alonso continued. “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 team, a club, that goes in unison, and when attention was turned to the question of support or the lack of it 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.”