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“This is a team, it is a club, and we all go together hand in hand,” the Real Madrid coach declared, possibly asserting somewhat excessively. “If you coach Real Madrid, you are prepared for anything,” he remarked on the morning before Manchester City step back into the Santiago Bernabéu for the latest meeting of a very modern classic. “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.” Losing and things could change immediately, and definitively: this opportunity is an imperative, too.

Emergency Discussions After Poor Home Defeat

Following Madrid’s utterly disappointing 2-0 setback on Sunday, Alonso stated he had “drawn conclusions,” and he was not alone. Long after the final whistle, crisis talks carried on, the club’s board forming their own opinions after a solitary triumph in five league games. Their diagnoses were not the same and while drastic decisions are temporarily shelved, forbearance is running out, the names of potential replacements already in the public domain. “You have to face those situations but my head’s only on the game, things I can control,” Alonso said here

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

A Rapid Deterioration After Early Success

City will be his twenty-eighth match 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 ties are unacceptable, and there’s perpetually an alternative who can coach. Things have indeed changed fast, even if the roots of the crisis were there from the start. Sold as a systems coach, precisely the required remedy after a season of lack of discipline and disappointment, Alonso was counter-cultural at a star-driven institution.

When Madrid won the clásico in late October, they moved five points ahead at the top. They had secured twelve victories in thirteen competitive games, although the defeat was emphatic: 5-2 at Atlético. It also highlighted flaws. Taken off after 72 minutes, 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 backing the coach, there was radio silence.

Tensions Emerging

Behind the scenes, the conclusion was clear: Alonso ought not to have substituted Vinícius off. Asked here if he would repeat that decision, 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.” Tensions had been laid bare, a rift 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 typical grievance began to emerge about all the directives, the film sessions, the lengthy training. Who did he think he was, the manager?!

More than a week after the clásico, Madrid were beaten by Liverpool, initiating a spell of two wins in seven. Able to play direct, they overcame 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 was directed at the footballers for the first time.

A Fragile Truce

In Bilbao, where they had been brought together a day early, it seemed some compromise had been reached; Alonso meeting their needs more than they did his. A thawing of relations was displayed when Vinícius embraced the coach as he departed. Two days off followed. Four days later, though, Celta defeated them and so it disintegrates anew.

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 denied, but it is intentional. Alonso knows that. He also knows, for all that he tried to talk about injuries and bad luck, not even truly persuading himself, Madrid were terrible against Celta: a lack of style, a deficient mentality, no structure.

The Coach: The Simplest Fix

But the weakest link, is always the manager, and Alonso’s future, more than the actual football, was the central theme to this game. However much the man who is still Madrid’s manager kept trying to bring it back to the match, which he did with virtually all his replies. The briefest response 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.”

“The role of Real Madrid coach isn't to alter the culture; it is to adjust,” Alonso continued. “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 by himself that Alonso talked of a collective, a club, that goes together, 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.”