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“This is a team, it is a club, and we all go together hand in hand,” the manager declared, maybe asserting somewhat excessively. “When you’re Real Madrid coach you’re ready,” he continued on the eve before Pep Guardiola's side step back into the Santiago Bernabéu for a new instalment of a frequent heavyweight clash. “I am eager for what lies ahead, beginning tomorrow, a chance to transform the frustration. Our sole focus is City. In this sport, whether good or bad, situations evolve rapidly.” Failure and things could shift instantly, and permanently: this chance is an imperative, too.

Emergency Discussions After Poor Loss at the Bernabéu

Following Madrid’s woefully inadequate 2-0 home defeat on Sunday, Alonso stated he had “formed his own assessments,” and he was in plentiful company. Late into the night, emergency discussions carried on, the club’s hierarchy forming their own opinions after a solitary triumph in five league games. Their assessments were different and while radical changes are temporarily shelved, 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,” the French midfielder remarked. “If we lost 2-0 to Celta, there’s a problem that’s on us: it’s not the coach’s fault.”

A Quick Deterioration After Initial Promise

City will be his 28th game in charge of Madrid and it might be his final one at a club where a crisis is always just two losses around the corner, where even ties are unacceptable, and there’s always someone else who can coach. Things have indeed evolved rapidly, even if the roots of the crisis were there from the start. Presented as a systems coach, precisely the required remedy after a season of laissez-faire and failure, Alonso was counter-cultural at a star-driven institution.

When Madrid triumphed in El Clásico 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. Replaced in the 72nd minute, Vinícius Júnior marched straight down the tunnel, reportedly threatening to leave the club. In a letter a few days later he expressed regret to all apart from Alonso. From the club's leadership, rather than supporting the trainer, there was radio silence.

Tensions Emerging

Behind the scenes, the assessment was clear: Alonso ought not to have substituted Vinícius off. Asked here if he would make the same call, 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 laid bare, a separation between coach and some players. Federico Valverde too had expressed his irritation publicly. The components weren't meshing as they should. A typical grievance began to surface 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. Capable of a more direct style, they overcame Olympiakos and Athletic Bilbao but between those drew at Rayo, Elche and Girona. After a delay, talks were held to mend divisions or at least paper over the issues, to restore tranquility. Focus shifted to the footballers for the first time.

A Fragile Truce

In Bilbao, where they had been brought together a day early, it seemed some agreement had been established; Alonso meeting their needs more than they did his. A thawing of relations was displayed when Vinícius greeted the 44-year-old 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 on the line is as notable as the fact it is. If Madrid beat City, that can always be denied, but it is deliberate. 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 dreadful against Celta: no identity, a deficient mentality, no structure.

The Manager: The Easiest Target

But the weakest link, is always the manager, and Alonso’s future, more than the sporting matters, 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 virtually all his replies. The shortest answer he gave might have been the most significant, had he truly believed it. Asked if he felt the whole squad was behind him, Alonso replied in a single word: “yes.”

“Being Madrid manager is not about changing [the culture]; it is about adapting,” Alonso added. “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 unit, a club, that goes hand in hand, and when attention was turned to the question of backing or its absence from above, he answered: “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.”