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“This is a team, it is a club, and we all go together hand in hand,” the manager insisted, perhaps protesting a little too much. “When you’re Real Madrid coach you’re ready,” he added on the morning before Pep Guardiola's side step back into the Santiago Bernabéu for a new meeting of a contemporary rivalry. “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”. Failure and things could shift instantly, and for good: this moment is an imperative, too.

Emergency Discussions After Dismal Setback

Following Madrid’s utterly disappointing 2-0 loss at their own stadium on Sunday, Alonso said he had “drawn conclusions,” and he was in plentiful company. Late into the night, crisis talks persisted, the club’s board drawing their own conclusions after a single win in five league games. Their diagnoses were divergent and while severe measures are being postponed, patience is finite, 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

“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 said. “Losing by two goals to Celta points to a deficiency in our performance, not the coach's planning.”

A Rapid Descent After Early Success

City will be his twenty-eighth match in charge of Madrid and it could be his last at a club where a state of emergency is never more than a couple of defeats away, where even draws will not do, and there’s perpetually an alternative 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 laissez-faire and failure, Alonso was a cultural shock at a players’ club.

When Madrid secured victory against Barcelona in late October, they established a five-point lead at the top. They had won 12 of 13 competitive games, although the setback was significant: 5-2 at Atlético. It also exposed fissures. Replaced in the 72nd minute, Vinícius Júnior marched straight down the tunnel, seemingly ready to quit the club. In a missive a few days later he expressed regret to all apart from Alonso. From the club's leadership, rather than reinforcing the manager, there was silence.

Frictions Coming to Light

Within the dressing room, the assessment was obvious: Alonso shouldn’t have taken Vinícius off. Questioned on this point if he would repeat that decision, Alonso replied: “The intent behind that question eludes me. When a situation on the pitch demands a choice, I make it.” Frictions had been brought to the surface, a disconnect between manager and certain squad members. Federico Valverde too had expressed his irritation publicly. The components weren't meshing as they should. A common complaint began to surface about all the directives, the videos, the extended practices. Who did he think he was, the manager?!

Nine days after the clásico, Madrid were defeated at Anfield, starting a sequence of two wins in seven. When adopting a straightforward approach, they beat Olympiakos and Athletic Bilbao but between those were held by Rayo, Elche and Girona. Belatedly, talks were held to mend divisions or at least paper over the issues, to establish peace. Focus was directed at the footballers for the first time.

A Fragile Reconciliation

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

That it is public knowledge that Alonso’s future is under scrutiny is as notable as the fact it is. If Madrid beat City, that can always be denied, but it is intentional. Alonso knows that. He also knows, for all that he tried to talk about player absences and injustice, not even truly persuading himself, Madrid were terrible against Celta: a lack of style, poor commitment, 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 bring it back to the match, which he did with virtually all his replies. The briefest response he gave might have been the most revealing, had he truly believed it. Asked if he felt the complete roster was behind him, Alonso replied in a solitary term: “yes.”

“Being Madrid manager is not about changing [the culture]; it is about adapting,” Alonso continued. “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 alone that Alonso talked of a unit, a club, that goes hand in hand, and when attention was turned to the question of endorsement or the deficit from above, he replied: “Dialogue with the leadership is ongoing, founded on trust, togetherness, and mutual respect. We are all united in this endeavor. We are psychologically prepared for any challenge: the squad is unified, certain of victory tomorrow, without a shadow of doubt. This is the Champions League. We are playing at the Bernabéu. The environment will be electric. That generates a unique dynamism, even among the players.”