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“This is a team, it is a club, and we all go together hand in hand,” Xabi Alonso declared, perhaps asserting a tad forcefully. “Being the manager of Real Madrid means you are always prepared,” he remarked on the eve before Pep Guardiola's side return to the Santiago Bernabéu for a new meeting of a contemporary rivalry. “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.” A defeat and things could shift instantly, and permanently: this chance is an obligation, too.

Crisis Talks After Dismal Home Defeat

Following Madrid’s desperately poor 2-0 setback on Sunday, Alonso revealed he had “reached some conclusions,” and he was not alone. Into the early hours, crisis talks persisted, the club’s hierarchy reaching their own verdicts after a mere one victory in five league games. Their diagnoses were not the same and while radical changes are being postponed, patience is finite, the names of candidates already circulating. “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 stated. “If we lost 2-0 to Celta, there’s a problem that’s on us: it’s not the coach’s fault.”

A Swift Descent After Early Success

City will be his twenty-eighth outing in charge of Madrid and it might be his final one at a club where a state of emergency is never more than a couple of defeats away, where even ties are unacceptable, and there’s invariably another candidate who can coach. Things have indeed shifted swiftly, even if the roots of the crisis were there from the start. Hailed as a tactical disciplinarian, precisely the required remedy after a season of permissiveness and underachievement, Alonso was an anomaly at a players’ club.

When Madrid secured victory against Barcelona in late October, they opened a five-point gap at the top. They had triumphed in twelve out of thirteen competitive games, although the defeat was emphatic: 5-2 at Atlético. It also exposed fissures. Replaced in the 72nd minute, Vinícius Júnior headed directly for the dressing room, seemingly ready to quit the club. In a missive a few days later he said sorry to all but Alonso. At the executive level, rather than backing the coach, there was radio silence.

Tensions Brought to the Surface

Behind the scenes, the verdict was evident: Alonso ought not to have substituted Vinícius off. Questioned on this point if he would make the same call, Alonso answered: “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.” Frictions had been laid bare, a separation between manager and certain squad members. Federico Valverde too had made his frustrations public. The puzzle pieces weren't aligning as they should. A typical grievance began to slip out about all the instructions, the videos, the lengthy training. 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 fix fault lines or at least mask the problems, to restore tranquility. Focus turned on the footballers for the first time.

A Temporary Rapprochement

In Bilbao, where they had been brought together a day early, it seemed some middle ground had been reached; Alonso meeting their needs more than they did his. A thawing of relations was orchestrated when Vinícius greeted the coach as he departed. A couple of days' rest followed. Four days later, though, Celta beat them and so it falls apart once more.

That it is public knowledge that Alonso’s future is in doubt is as important as the fact it is. If Madrid beat City, that can always be rebutted, but it is intentional. Alonso knows that. He also knows, for all that he tried to talk about player absences and unfairness, not even truly believing his own words, Madrid were terrible against Celta: a lack of style, no attitude, no structure.

The Manager: The Most Obvious Solution

But the most vulnerable point, 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 refocus on the match, which he did with virtually all his replies. The shortest answer 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 single word: “yes.”

“Managing Real Madrid doesn't involve transforming the culture; it requires fitting in,” 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 in unison, and when attention was turned to the question of support or the lack of it from above, he commented: “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.”