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“This is a team, it is a club, and we all go together hand in hand,” the manager insisted, maybe asserting a tad forcefully. “When you’re Real Madrid coach you’re ready,” he remarked on the day before the English champions return to the Santiago Bernabéu for a new instalment of a very modern classic. “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 alter for good, and for good: this chance is an obligation, too.

Crisis Talks After Poor Setback

Following Madrid’s utterly disappointing 2-0 home defeat on Sunday, Alonso revealed he had “formed his own assessments,” and he was far from the only one. Long after the final whistle, urgent meetings persisted, the club’s hierarchy drawing their own conclusions after a single win in five league games. Their diagnoses were not the same and while severe measures remain on hold, tolerance has limits, the names of potential replacements already circulating. “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,” Aurélien Tchouaméni remarked. “A 2-0 defeat to Celta indicates an issue that lies with us, not the manager.”

A Swift Deterioration After Early Success

City will be his twenty-eighth match in charge of Madrid and it might be his final one at a club where a crisis is never more than a couple of defeats away, where even draws will not do, and there’s invariably another candidate who can coach. Things have indeed changed fast, even if the origins of the trouble were there from the start. Presented as a systems coach, precisely the required remedy after a season of lack of discipline and disappointment, Alonso was an anomaly at a squad-centric organization.

When Madrid won the clásico in late October, they established a five-point lead at the top. They had won 12 of 13 competitive games, although the defeat was emphatic: 5-2 at Atlético. It also exposed fissures. Replaced in the 72nd minute, Vinícius Júnior stormed off down the tunnel, reportedly threatening to leave the club. In a statement a few days later he expressed regret to all apart from Alonso. Institutionally, rather than supporting the trainer, there was silence.

Tensions Coming to Light

Internally, the assessment was evident: 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.” Strains had been exposed, a disconnect between manager and certain squad members. Federico Valverde too had made his frustrations public. The pieces weren’t fitting as they should. A familiar lament began to emerge about all the instructions, the video analysis, the extended practices. Who did he think he was, the manager?!

Nine days after the clásico, Madrid were beaten by Liverpool, beginning a run of two wins in seven. Able to play direct, they defeated Olympiakos and Athletic Bilbao but between those tied with Rayo, Elche and Girona. Eventually, talks were held to fix fault lines or at least mask the problems, to establish peace. Focus shifted to the footballers for the first time.

A Fragile Rapprochement

In Bilbao, where they had been gathered a day early, it seemed some compromise had been found; Alonso yielding to their requests more than they did his. Reconciliation was staged 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 public knowledge 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 deliberate. Alonso knows that. He also knows, for all that he tried to talk about fitness issues and bad luck, not even truly convincing himself, Madrid were terrible against Celta: an absence of character, a deficient mentality, a lack of organization.

The Manager: The Simplest Fix

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