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“We are a united club, a team, and we all move forward together,” the Real Madrid coach insisted, maybe asserting a tad forcefully. “Being the manager of Real Madrid means you are always prepared,” he remarked on the morning before Pep Guardiola's side visit once more the Santiago Bernabéu for another instalment of a frequent heavyweight clash. “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.” Failure and things could shift instantly, and definitively: this chance is an duty, too.

Emergency Discussions After Poor Home Defeat

Following Madrid’s woefully inadequate 2-0 setback on Sunday, Alonso stated he had “drawn conclusions,” and he was far from the only one. Late into the night, crisis talks persisted, the club’s hierarchy drawing their own conclusions after a single win in five league games. Their analyses were not the same and while severe measures are temporarily shelved, forbearance is running out, 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

“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 match in charge of Madrid and it could be his last at a club where a turmoil is perpetually looming after a few setbacks, where even sharing points is insufficient, and there’s always someone else who can coach. Things have indeed shifted swiftly, even if the roots of the crisis were there from the start. Presented as a structured planner, exactly what they needed after a season of lack of discipline and disappointment, Alonso was counter-cultural at a players’ club.

When Madrid secured victory against Barcelona in late October, they moved five points ahead at the top. They had secured twelve victories in thirteen competitive games, although the defeat was emphatic: 5-2 at Atlético. It also exposed fissures. Substituted on 72 minutes, 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 radio silence.

Frictions Emerging

Within the dressing room, the assessment was evident: Alonso ought not to have substituted Vinícius off. Asked here if he would make the same call, Alonso responded: “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.” Strains had been laid bare, a separation between coach and some players. Federico Valverde too had voiced his discontent openly. The puzzle pieces weren't aligning as they should. A familiar lament began to slip out about all the instructions, the film sessions, the lengthy training. Who did he think he was, the manager?!

Over a week after the clásico, Madrid were beaten by Liverpool, beginning a run of two wins in seven. When adopting a straightforward approach, they beat Olympiakos and Athletic Bilbao but between those tied with Rayo, Elche and Girona. Belatedly, 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 compromise had been reached; Alonso meeting their needs more than they did his. A thawing of relations was orchestrated when Vinícius greeted the 44-year-old as he departed. A brief break followed. A few days after, though, Celta defeated them and so it falls apart once more.

That it is understood that Alonso’s future is in doubt is as important as the fact it is. If Madrid beat City, that can always be disputed, but it is calculated. Alonso knows that. He also knows, for all that he tried to talk about player absences and bad luck, not even truly convincing himself, Madrid were awful against Celta: no identity, poor commitment, an absence of tactical shape.

The Coach: The Simplest Fix

But the simplest fix, 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 bring it back to the match, which he did with almost every response. The shortest answer 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.”

“Managing Real Madrid doesn't involve transforming the culture; it requires fitting in,” Alonso added. “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 unit, a club, that goes together, and when attention was turned to the question of endorsement or the deficit 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.”