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“We are a collective, a single entity, and we are all in this as one,” Xabi Alonso stated emphatically, possibly protesting a tad forcefully. “Being the manager of Real Madrid means you are always prepared,” he remarked on the eve before the English champions step back into the Santiago Bernabéu for another edition 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.” Losing and things could alter for good, and for good: this chance is an imperative, too.

Emergency Discussions After Desperate Home Defeat

Following Madrid’s desperately poor 2-0 home defeat on Sunday, Alonso stated he had “formed his own assessments,” and he was in plentiful company. Long after the final whistle, urgent meetings persisted, the club’s hierarchy reaching their own verdicts after a solitary triumph in five league games. Their analyses were divergent and while drastic decisions are being postponed, tolerance has limits, 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 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. “Losing by two goals to Celta points to a deficiency in our performance, not the coach's planning.”

A Quick Decline After Early 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 never more than a couple of defeats away, where even draws will not do, and there’s always someone else who can coach. Things have indeed shifted swiftly, even if the seeds of the problem 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 triumphed in El Clásico in late October, they moved five points ahead at the top. They had triumphed in twelve out of thirteen competitive games, although the setback was significant: 5-2 at Atlético. It also exposed fissures. Taken off after 72 minutes, Vinícius Júnior stormed off down the tunnel, reportedly threatening to leave the club. In a statement a few days later he said sorry to all but Alonso. At the executive level, rather than reinforcing the manager, there was a conspicuous quiet.

Tensions Coming to Light

Within the dressing room, the conclusion was clear: Alonso ought not to have substituted Vinícius off. Asked here if he would do that again, Alonso replied: “I don’t know what that question is for. If I see in the moment that I have to take a decision on the pitch, I do.” Frictions had been exposed, 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 familiar lament began to emerge about all the instructions, the videos, the long sessions. Who did he think he was, the manager?!

Over a week after the clásico, Madrid were beaten by Liverpool, starting a sequence 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. Belatedly, talks were held to repair cracks or at least paper over the issues, to bring calm. Focus turned on the footballers for the first time.

A Temporary Reconciliation

In Bilbao, where they had been gathered a day early, it seemed some agreement had been reached; Alonso meeting their needs more than they did his. Reconciliation was staged when Vinícius embraced the manager as he departed. A couple of days' rest followed. Subsequently, though, Celta overcame them and so it falls apart once more.

That it is known 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 intentional. Alonso knows that. He also knows, for all that he tried to talk about fitness issues and unfairness, not even truly persuading himself, Madrid were awful against Celta: an absence of character, poor commitment, an absence of tactical shape.

The Gaffer: The Most Obvious Solution

But the simplest fix, is always the manager, and Alonso’s future, more than the on-pitch performance, 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 almost every response. 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 solitary term: “yes.”

“The role of Real Madrid coach isn't to alter the culture; it is to adjust,” Alonso stated. “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 isolated that Alonso talked of a collective, a club, that goes together, 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.”