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“We are a united club, a team, and we all move forward together,” the Real Madrid coach stated emphatically, maybe affirming a little too much. “Being the manager of Real Madrid means you are always prepared,” he added on the eve before Pep Guardiola's side step back into the Santiago Bernabéu for the latest meeting 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”. Losing and things could alter for good, and permanently: this moment is an imperative, too.

Emergency Discussions After Desperate Setback

Following Madrid’s woefully inadequate 2-0 setback on Sunday, Alonso revealed he had “reached some conclusions,” and he was not alone. Into the early hours, emergency discussions continued, the club’s leadership drawing their own conclusions after a solitary triumph in five league games. Their assessments were not the same and while drastic decisions remain on hold, patience is finite, the names of potential replacements already circulating. “These are scenarios you must deal with, yet my mind is fixed only on the game, on what I can influence,” 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 Swift Decline After Early Success

City will be his twenty-eighth match in charge of Madrid and it may prove to be his farewell 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 origins of the trouble were there from the start. Presented as a systems coach, exactly what they needed after a season of laissez-faire and failure, Alonso was an anomaly at a players’ club.

When Madrid won the clásico in late October, they opened a five-point gap at the top. They had secured twelve victories in thirteen competitive games, although the setback was significant: 5-2 at Atlético. It also revealed cracks. Replaced in the 72nd minute, Vinícius Júnior stormed off down the tunnel, reportedly threatening to leave the club. In a letter a few days later he said sorry to all but Alonso. At the executive level, rather than reinforcing the manager, there was radio silence.

Frictions Emerging

Within the dressing room, the verdict was clear: Alonso was wrong to remove Vinícius off. Asked here if he would make the same call, Alonso answered: “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 rift between manager and certain squad members. Federico Valverde too had expressed his irritation publicly. The puzzle pieces weren't aligning as they should. A common complaint began to emerge about all the orders, the video analysis, the lengthy training. 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. Able to play direct, they defeated Olympiakos and Athletic Bilbao but between those were held by Rayo, Elche and Girona. Belatedly, talks were held to fix fault lines or at least cover cracks, to establish peace. Focus shifted to the footballers for the first time.

A Fragile Truce

In Bilbao, where they had been brought together a day early, it seemed some agreement had been found; Alonso meeting their needs more than they did his. Reconciliation was displayed when Vinícius greeted the 44-year-old as he departed. Two days off followed. Four days later, though, Celta defeated them and so it falls apart once more.

That it is understood that Alonso’s future is on the line is as significant as the fact it is. If Madrid beat City, that can always be rebutted, but it is intentional. Alonso knows that. He also knows, for all that he tried to talk about fitness issues and injustice, not even truly believing his own words, Madrid were dreadful against Celta: a lack of style, no attitude, no structure.

The Manager: The Easiest Target

But the most vulnerable point, 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 nearly each answer. The shortest answer he gave might have been the most telling, had he truly believed it. Asked if he felt the whole squad was behind him, Alonso replied in a single word: “yes.”

“Managing Real Madrid doesn't involve transforming the culture; it requires fitting in,” Alonso added. “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 by himself that Alonso talked of a unit, a club, that goes hand in hand, and when attention was turned to the question of support or the lack of it from above, he answered: “Dialogue with the leadership is ongoing, founded on trust, togetherness, and mutual respect. We are all united in this endeavor. We are psychologically prepared for any challenge: the squad is unified, certain of victory tomorrow, without a shadow of doubt. This is the Champions League. We are playing at the Bernabéu. The environment will be electric. That generates a unique dynamism, even among the players.”