🔗 Share this article

“We are a collective, a single entity, and we are all in this as one,” the Real Madrid coach declared, perhaps affirming somewhat excessively. “When you’re Real Madrid coach you’re ready,” he added on the morning before Manchester City return to the Santiago Bernabéu for another instalment of a contemporary rivalry. “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.” Failure and things could change immediately, and permanently: this chance is an imperative, too.

Crisis Talks After Desperate Setback

Following Madrid’s utterly disappointing 2-0 loss at their own stadium on Sunday, Alonso stated he had “formed his own assessments,” and he was in plentiful company. Long after the final whistle, crisis talks persisted, the club’s board drawing their own conclusions after a single win in five league games. Their diagnoses were not the same and while severe measures remain on hold, forbearance is running out, the names of potential replacements already in the public domain. “One must confront such circumstances, but my focus is solely on the match, on elements within my power,” Alonso commented

“Certainly the trainer devised an effective approach, but when it comes down to it, the players execute on the field,” Aurélien Tchouaméni remarked. “A 2-0 defeat to Celta indicates an issue that lies with us, not the manager.”

A Swift Deterioration After Early Promise

City will be his twenty-eighth match in charge of Madrid and it might be his final one at a club where a state of emergency is always just two losses around the corner, where even draws will not do, and there’s perpetually an alternative who can coach. Things have indeed evolved rapidly, even if the roots of the crisis were there from the start. Hailed as a tactical disciplinarian, precisely the required remedy after a season of permissiveness and underachievement, Alonso was counter-cultural 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 loss had been heavy: 5-2 at Atlético. It also revealed cracks. Substituted on 72 minutes, Vinícius Júnior marched straight down the tunnel, seemingly ready to quit the club. In a statement a few days later he said sorry to all but Alonso. From the club's leadership, rather than supporting the trainer, there was silence.

Strains Coming to Light

Behind the scenes, the assessment was clear: Alonso ought not to have substituted Vinícius off. Pressed on the issue if he would repeat that decision, Alonso responded: “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 coach and some players. Federico Valverde too had made his frustrations public. The components weren't meshing as they should. A common complaint began to surface about all the instructions, the videos, the lengthy training. Who did he think he was, the manager?!

Over 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 overcame Olympiakos and Athletic Bilbao but between those tied with Rayo, Elche and Girona. Eventually, talks were held to repair cracks or at least mask the problems, to bring calm. Focus was directed at the footballers for the first time.

A Fragile Truce

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 greeted the coach as he departed. A brief break followed. Four days later, though, Celta defeated them and so it disintegrates anew.

That it is understood that Alonso’s future is on the line is as important as the fact it is. If Madrid beat City, that can always be rebutted, but it is deliberate. Alonso knows that. He also knows, for all that he tried to talk about player absences and injustice, not even truly persuading himself, Madrid were awful against Celta: no identity, a deficient mentality, an absence of tactical shape.

The Coach: The Simplest Fix

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 redirect attention to the match, which he did with virtually all his replies. The briefest response he gave might have been the most revealing, had he truly believed it. Asked if he felt the whole squad was behind him, Alonso replied in a solitary term: “yes.”

“Managing Real Madrid doesn't involve transforming the culture; it requires fitting in,” Alonso added. “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 unit, a club, that goes in unison, and when attention was turned to the question of endorsement or the deficit from above, he replied: “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.”