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“This is a team, it is a club, and we all go together hand in hand,” the manager insisted, possibly protesting somewhat excessively. “When you’re Real Madrid coach you’re ready,” he continued on the day before Manchester City return to the Santiago Bernabéu for a new edition 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”. A defeat and things could change immediately, and permanently: this opportunity is an imperative, too.

Crisis Talks After Dismal Home Defeat

Following Madrid’s utterly disappointing 2-0 home defeat on Sunday, Alonso revealed he had “formed his own assessments,” and he was in plentiful company. Into the early hours, emergency discussions continued, the club’s leadership reaching their own verdicts after a single win in five league games. Their assessments were different and while drastic decisions are being postponed, patience is finite, the names of possible successors already circulating. “One must confront such circumstances, but my focus is solely on the match, on elements within my power,” Alonso stated in the press conference

“Certainly the trainer devised an effective approach, but when it comes down to it, the players execute on the field,” one of the squad's leaders stated. “Losing by two goals to Celta points to a deficiency in our performance, not the coach's planning.”

A Rapid 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 perpetually looming after a few setbacks, where even draws will not do, and there’s always someone else 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, exactly what they needed after a season of permissiveness and underachievement, Alonso was a cultural shock 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 loss had been heavy: 5-2 at Atlético. It also exposed fissures. Taken off after 72 minutes, Vinícius Júnior stormed off down the tunnel, seemingly ready to quit the club. In a letter a few days later he said sorry to all but Alonso. Institutionally, rather than backing the coach, there was a conspicuous quiet.

Frictions Coming to Light

Internally, the assessment was obvious: Alonso was wrong to remove Vinícius off. Asked here if he would do that again, 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 exposed, a separation between trainer and a portion of the team. Federico Valverde too had made his frustrations public. The components weren't meshing as they should. A familiar lament began to emerge about all the directives, the videos, the lengthy training. Who did he think he was, the manager?!

Nine days after the clásico, Madrid were defeated at Anfield, beginning a run of two wins in seven. Able to play direct, they overcame Olympiakos and Athletic Bilbao but between those were held by Rayo, Elche and Girona. After a delay, talks were held to mend divisions or at least paper over the issues, to bring calm. Focus was directed at the footballers for the first time.

A Fragile Reconciliation

In Bilbao, where they had been assembled a day early, it seemed some agreement had been established; Alonso meeting their needs more than they did his. A thawing of relations was orchestrated when Vinícius embraced the coach as he departed. A brief break 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 calculated. Alonso knows that. He also knows, for all that he tried to talk about injuries and unfairness, not even truly believing his own words, Madrid were awful against Celta: an absence of character, a deficient mentality, no structure.

The Coach: The Simplest Fix

But the most vulnerable point, 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 redirect attention to the match, which he did with virtually all his replies. The briefest response 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 stated. “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 alone that Alonso talked of a unit, a club, that goes in unison, and when attention was turned to the question of endorsement or the deficit from above, he answered: “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.”