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“This is a team, it is a club, and we all go together hand in hand,” Xabi Alonso declared, possibly protesting a tad forcefully. “If you coach Real Madrid, you are prepared for anything,” he continued on the eve before the English champions return to the Santiago Bernabéu for another meeting of a very modern classic. “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.” Losing and things could change immediately, and for good: this opportunity is an duty, too.

Urgent Meetings After Poor Loss at the Bernabéu

Following Madrid’s utterly disappointing 2-0 home defeat on Sunday, Alonso said he had “reached some conclusions,” and he was far from the only one. Into the early hours, crisis talks continued, the club’s hierarchy reaching their own verdicts after a single win in five league games. Their assessments were divergent and while drastic decisions remain on hold, forbearance is running out, the names of possible successors already out. “These are scenarios you must deal with, yet my mind is fixed only on the game, on what I can influence,” Alonso commented

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

A Quick Descent After Early 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 perpetually looming after a few setbacks, where even draws will not do, 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. Hailed 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 won the clásico in late October, they opened a five-point gap at the top. They had triumphed in twelve out of thirteen competitive games, although the loss had been heavy: 5-2 at Atlético. It also highlighted flaws. Replaced in the 72nd minute, Vinícius Júnior marched straight down the tunnel, seemingly ready to quit the club. In a statement a few days later he apologised to everyone except Alonso. At the executive level, rather than supporting the trainer, there was a conspicuous quiet.

Strains Coming to Light

Within the dressing room, the assessment was evident: Alonso was wrong to remove Vinícius off. Pressed on the issue if he would repeat that decision, Alonso responded: “The intent behind that question eludes me. When a situation on the pitch demands a choice, I make it.” Tensions 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 instructions, the film sessions, the extended practices. Who did he think he was, the manager?!

More than a week after the clásico, Madrid were overcome at Liverpool, starting a sequence of two wins in seven. When adopting a straightforward approach, they beat Olympiakos and Athletic Bilbao but between those drew at Rayo, Elche and Girona. Belatedly, talks were held to mend divisions or at least paper over the issues, to establish peace. Focus shifted to the footballers for the first time.

A Temporary Truce

In Bilbao, where they had been gathered a day early, it seemed some compromise had been established; Alonso yielding to their requests more than they did his. Reconciliation was orchestrated when Vinícius hugged the manager as he departed. A couple of days' rest followed. Subsequently, though, Celta overcame them and so it unravels again.

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 rebutted, but it is deliberate. Alonso knows that. He also knows, for all that he tried to talk about player absences and injustice, not even truly convincing himself, Madrid were dreadful against Celta: a lack of style, no attitude, no structure.

The Gaffer: The Easiest Target

But the simplest fix, is always the manager, and Alonso’s future, more than the actual football, dominated the buildup to this game. However much the man who is still Madrid’s manager kept trying to refocus on the match, which he did with almost every response. The shortest answer he gave might have been the most revealing, had he truly believed it. Asked if he felt the whole squad was behind him, Alonso replied in a solitary term: “yes.”

“The role of Real Madrid coach isn't to alter the culture; it is to adjust,” 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 by himself that Alonso talked of a team, a club, that goes hand in hand, and when attention was turned to the question of support or the lack of it 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.”