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“This is a team, it is a club, and we all go together hand in hand,” Xabi Alonso insisted, maybe affirming a tad forcefully. “If you coach Real Madrid, you are prepared for anything,” he added on the eve before Pep Guardiola's side step back into the Santiago Bernabéu for a new 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 shift instantly, and permanently: this moment is an duty, too.

Emergency Discussions After Poor Setback

Following Madrid’s desperately poor 2-0 home defeat on Sunday, Alonso said he had “reached some conclusions,” and he was in plentiful company. Long after the final whistle, crisis talks persisted, the club’s leadership reaching their own verdicts after a single win in five league games. Their diagnoses were not the same and while radical changes are being postponed, tolerance has limits, the names of possible successors already out. “One must confront such circumstances, but my focus is solely on the match, on elements within my power,” Alonso said here

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

A Swift Deterioration After Initial Promise

City will be his twenty-eighth outing 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 invariably another candidate who can coach. Things have indeed changed fast, even if the roots of the crisis were there from the start. Sold as a structured planner, the ideal solution after a season of laissez-faire and failure, Alonso was an anomaly at a squad-centric organization.

When Madrid triumphed in El Clásico in late October, they moved five points ahead 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. Substituted on 72 minutes, Vinícius Júnior stormed off down the tunnel, seemingly ready to quit the club. In a statement a few days later he apologised to everyone except Alonso. From the club's leadership, rather than reinforcing the manager, there was a conspicuous quiet.

Frictions Coming to Light

Internally, 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: “The intent behind that question eludes me. When a situation on the pitch demands a choice, I make it.” Tensions had been exposed, a disconnect between trainer and a portion of the team. Federico Valverde too had expressed his irritation publicly. The puzzle pieces weren't aligning as they should. A common complaint began to slip out about all the directives, the film sessions, the long sessions. Who did he think he was, the manager?!

Nine days after the clásico, Madrid were overcome at Liverpool, beginning a run of two wins in seven. Able to play direct, they overcame 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 was directed at the footballers for the first time.

A Temporary Rapprochement

In Bilbao, where they had been gathered a day early, it seemed some agreement had been found; Alonso accommodating their demands more than they did his. A thawing of relations was displayed when Vinícius greeted the manager as he departed. Two days off followed. A few days after, though, Celta beat them and so it unravels again.

That it is known that Alonso’s future is in doubt is as notable as the fact it is. If Madrid beat City, that can always be denied, but it is calculated. Alonso knows that. He also knows, for all that he tried to talk about injuries and bad luck, not even truly believing his own words, Madrid were awful against Celta: no identity, poor commitment, a lack of organization.

The Gaffer: The Most Obvious Solution

But the simplest fix, is always the manager, and Alonso’s future, more than the on-pitch performance, 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 entire team was behind him, Alonso replied in a one word: “yes.”

“Managing Real Madrid doesn't involve transforming the culture; it requires fitting in,” Alonso stated. “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 alone that Alonso talked of a team, a club, that goes together, and when attention was turned to the question of backing or its absence 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.”