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“We are a united club, a team, and we all move forward together,” Xabi Alonso declared, possibly asserting somewhat excessively. “If you coach Real Madrid, you are prepared for anything,” he added on the day before Manchester City visit once more the Santiago Bernabéu for a new meeting of a frequent heavyweight clash. “I anticipate the challenge ahead, starting tomorrow—an opening to redirect the disappointment. Our minds are fixed solely on City. Football, for better or worse, is a game of swift changes.” A defeat and things could alter for good, and for good: this opportunity is an imperative, too.

Crisis Talks After Desperate Setback

Following Madrid’s desperately poor 2-0 home defeat on Sunday, Alonso said he had “drawn conclusions,” and he was not alone. Into the early hours, crisis talks carried on, the club’s leadership drawing their own conclusions after a single win in five league games. Their analyses were not the same and while severe measures are being postponed, patience is finite, 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 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. “A 2-0 defeat to Celta indicates an issue that lies with us, not the manager.”

A Quick Decline After Early Success

City will be his 28th game in charge of Madrid and it may prove to be his farewell at a club where a crisis is never more than a couple of defeats away, where even ties are unacceptable, and there’s always someone else who can coach. Things have indeed shifted swiftly, even if the roots of the crisis 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 star-driven institution.

When Madrid won the clásico 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 highlighted flaws. Taken off after 72 minutes, Vinícius Júnior marched straight down the tunnel, threatening to walk straight out the club. In a missive a few days later he said sorry to all but Alonso. Institutionally, rather than backing the coach, there was silence.

Tensions Emerging

Internally, the assessment was evident: Alonso was wrong to remove Vinícius off. Asked here if he would make the same call, Alonso responded: “The intent behind that question eludes me. When a situation on the pitch demands a choice, I make it.” Tensions had been laid bare, a disconnect between coach and some players. Federico Valverde too had made his frustrations public. The pieces weren’t fitting as they should. A typical grievance began to surface about all the instructions, the videos, the extended practices. 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. Capable of a more direct style, they beat 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 restore tranquility. 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 middle ground had been found; Alonso accommodating their demands more than they did his. Rapprochement was displayed when Vinícius embraced the coach as he departed. Two days off followed. Four days later, though, Celta defeated them and so it unravels again.

That it is known that Alonso’s future is on the line is as important as the fact it is. If Madrid beat City, that can always be disputed, but it is calculated. Alonso knows that. He also knows, for all that he tried to talk about injuries and injustice, not even truly persuading himself, Madrid were terrible against Celta: a lack of style, a deficient mentality, a lack of organization.

The Gaffer: The Simplest Fix

But the weakest link, 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 nearly each answer. The briefest response he gave might have been the most significant, had he truly believed it. Asked if he felt the entire team was behind him, Alonso replied in a solitary term: “yes.”

“Being Madrid manager is not about changing [the culture]; it is about adapting,” 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 collective, a club, that goes together, and when attention was turned to the question of backing or its absence 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.”