No attacker in Real Madrid’s history had experienced scoreless for as such a duration as Rodrygo, but eventually he was freed and he had a declaration to broadcast, acted out for the cameras. The Brazilian, who had failed to score in an extended drought and was starting only his fifth match this campaign, beat goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma to give them the opening goal against Pep Guardiola's side. Then he spun and sprinted towards the touchline to greet Xabi Alonso, the manager in the spotlight for whom this could represent an even greater relief.
“This is a difficult moment for him, just as it is for us,” Rodrygo said. “Results are not going our way and I sought to prove the public that we are as one with the coach.”
By the time Rodrygo made his comments, the lead had been lost, a defeat ensuing. City had come back, taking 2-1 ahead with “minimal”, Alonso remarked. That can happen when you’re in a “delicate” state, he elaborated, but at least Madrid had reacted. This time, they could not engineer a comeback. Endrick, introduced off the bench having played a handful of minutes all season, struck the crossbar in the closing stages.
A Suspended Sentence
“It proved insufficient,” Rodrygo conceded. The issue was whether it would be enough for Alonso to hold onto his job. “We didn’t feel that [this was a trial of the coach],” goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois stated, but that was how it had been framed publicly, and how it was perceived internally. “We have shown that we’re with the manager: we have performed creditably, given 100%,” Courtois added. And so judgment was withheld, any action pending, with games against Alavés and Sevilla on the horizon.
A More Credible Form of Setback
Madrid had been overcome at home for the second time in four days, perpetuating their poor form to just two victories in eight, but this seemed a little different. This was Manchester City, not a La Liga opponent. Simplified, they had actually run, the most obvious and most harsh charge not directed at them on this night. With a host of first-teamers out injured, they had lost only to a messy goal and a spot-kick, coming close to salvaging something at the end. There were “numerous of very good things” about this performance, the head coach argued, and there could be “no reproach” of his players, not this time.
The Stadium's Ambivalent Reaction
That was not completely the full story. There were moments in the closing 45 minutes, as discontent grew, when the Santiago Bernabéu had jeered. At full time, some of supporters had done so again, although there was in addition pockets of appreciation. But primarily, there was a quiet flow to the exits. “That’s normal, we accept it,” Rodrygo noted. Alonso added: “There's nothing that doesn't occur before. And there were moments when they clapped too.”
Player Backing Stands Firm
“I have the support of the players,” Alonso declared. And if he stood by them, they backed him too, at least in front of the cameras. There has been a rapprochement, conversations: the coach had listened to them, perhaps more than they had accommodated him, reaching somewhere not precisely in the compromise.
How lasting a remedy that is is still an open question. One little incident in the post-match press conference seemed notable. Asked about Pep Guardiola’s suggestion to follow his own path, Alonso had permitted that idea to hang there, responding: “I have a good rapport with Pep, we know each other well and he understands what he is implying.”
A Starting Point of Fight
Crucially though, he could be satisfied that there was a resistance, a reaction. Madrid’s players had not abandoned their coach during the game and after it they stood up for him. This support may have been performative, done out of obligation or self-interest, but in this tense environment, it was meaningful. The effort with which they played had been equally so – even if there is a danger of the most fundamental of expectations somehow being elevated as a form of success.
The previous day, Aurélien Tchouaméni had argued the coach had a plan, that their shortcomings were not his fault. “I believe my teammate Aurélien nailed it in the press conference,” Raúl Asencio said post-match. “The sole solution is [for] the players to alter the attitude. The attitude is the key thing and today we have seen a change.”
Jude Bellingham, questioned if they were with the coach, also replied in numbers: “100%.”
“We persist in striving to work it out in the changing room,” he continued. “It's clear that the [outside] speculation will not be helpful so it is about striving to resolve it in there.”
“I think the gaffer has been superb. I personally have a excellent relationship with him,” Bellingham added. “After the spell of games where we drew a few, we had some honest conversations behind the scenes.”
“Every situation passes in the end,” Alonso philosophized, maybe talking as much about a difficult spell as everything.
