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“This is a team, it is a club, and we all go together hand in hand,” the manager insisted, perhaps asserting a tad forcefully. “If you coach Real Madrid, you are prepared for anything,” he continued on the eve before Pep Guardiola's side step back into the Santiago Bernabéu for the latest instalment of a very modern classic. “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.” A defeat and things could change immediately, and definitively: this opportunity is an obligation, too.

Urgent Meetings After Desperate Loss at the Bernabéu

Following Madrid’s woefully inadequate 2-0 home defeat on Sunday, Alonso said he had “reached some conclusions,” and he was in plentiful company. Late into the night, urgent meetings persisted, the club’s hierarchy drawing their own conclusions after a solitary triumph in five league games. Their diagnoses were divergent and while radical changes remain on hold, forbearance is running out, the names of potential replacements already out. “You have to face those situations but my head’s only on the game, things I can control,” Alonso stated in the press conference

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

A Swift 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 turmoil is always just two losses around the corner, where even ties are unacceptable, 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. Presented as a tactical disciplinarian, precisely the required remedy after a season of lack of discipline and disappointment, Alonso was counter-cultural at a star-driven institution.

When Madrid won the clásico in late October, they opened a five-point gap at the top. They had won 12 of 13 competitive games, although the defeat was emphatic: 5-2 at Atlético. It also revealed cracks. Taken off after 72 minutes, Vinícius Júnior marched straight down the tunnel, threatening to walk straight out the club. In a missive a few days later he expressed regret to all apart from Alonso. From the club's leadership, rather than backing the coach, there was a conspicuous quiet.

Strains Emerging

Internally, the assessment was obvious: Alonso shouldn’t have taken Vinícius off. Questioned on this point if he would do that again, Alonso replied: “I am unsure of the purpose of that query. If, in the moment, I believe a decision is required on the field, I will make it.” Tensions had been exposed, a separation between manager and certain squad members. Federico Valverde too had voiced his discontent openly. The components weren't meshing as they should. A common complaint began to emerge about all the directives, the videos, the extended practices. 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 defeated Olympiakos and Athletic Bilbao but between those drew at Rayo, Elche and Girona. After a delay, talks were held to fix fault lines 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 gathered a day early, it seemed some agreement had been found; Alonso yielding to their requests more than they did his. A thawing of relations was staged when Vinícius hugged the manager as he departed. A couple of days' rest followed. A few days after, though, Celta defeated them and so it disintegrates anew.

That it is public knowledge that Alonso’s future is in doubt is as significant 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 injuries and unfairness, not even truly believing his own words, Madrid were terrible 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, 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 nearly each answer. The shortest answer he gave might have been the most telling, had he truly believed it. Asked if he felt the complete roster was behind him, Alonso replied in a single word: “yes.”

“Being Madrid manager is not about changing [the culture]; it is about adapting,” Alonso continued. “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 isolated that Alonso talked of a unit, a club, that goes together, and when attention was turned to the question of endorsement or the deficit from above, he commented: “Our contact with the board is continuous, stemming from belief, solidarity, and care. We stand as one in this situation. Our mindset is geared to confront all obstacles: the team is cohesive, fully believing we can triumph tomorrow, with absolute certainty. It's the Champions League. The Bernabéu is our stage. The ambiance will be unforgettable. That fosters a distinct vitality, particularly within the squad.”