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“This is a team, it is a club, and we all go together hand in hand,” the manager declared, perhaps asserting a little too much. “Being the manager of Real Madrid means you are always prepared,” he continued on the eve before Manchester City visit once more the Santiago Bernabéu for the latest instalment 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.” Failure and things could shift instantly, and definitively: this moment is an imperative, too.

Crisis Talks After Desperate Loss at the Bernabéu

Following Madrid’s woefully inadequate 2-0 home defeat on Sunday, Alonso said he had “reached some conclusions,” and he was in plentiful company. Into the early hours, urgent meetings persisted, the club’s board reaching their own verdicts after a single win in five league games. Their analyses were not the same and while drastic decisions are temporarily shelved, 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 commented

“Undoubtedly the manager prepared a solid strategy, but ultimately, we the footballers are the ones performing,” Aurélien Tchouaméni remarked. “A 2-0 defeat to Celta indicates an issue that lies with us, not the manager.”

A Quick Deterioration After Early Promise

City will be his twenty-eighth match in charge of Madrid and it could be his last at a club where a turmoil is always just two losses around the corner, where even draws will not do, and there’s invariably another candidate who can coach. Things have indeed evolved rapidly, 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 a cultural shock at a star-driven institution.

When Madrid triumphed in El 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 apologised to everyone except Alonso. From the club's leadership, rather than reinforcing the manager, there was a conspicuous quiet.

Strains Coming to Light

Behind the scenes, the verdict was obvious: Alonso shouldn’t have taken Vinícius off. Questioned on this point if he would make the same call, Alonso replied: “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 brought to the surface, a disconnect between manager and certain squad members. Federico Valverde too had expressed his irritation publicly. The pieces weren’t fitting as they should. A typical grievance began to slip out about all the orders, the videos, the extended practices. Who did he think he was, the manager?!

Nine days after the clásico, Madrid were overcome at Liverpool, beginning a run 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 fix fault lines or at least cover cracks, to establish peace. Focus turned on the footballers for the first time.

A Fragile Rapprochement

In Bilbao, where they had been brought together a day early, it seemed some agreement had been reached; Alonso meeting their needs more than they did his. Reconciliation was orchestrated when Vinícius hugged the coach as he departed. A couple of days' rest followed. A few days after, though, Celta overcame them and so it disintegrates anew.

That it is understood that Alonso’s future is under scrutiny is as important as the fact it is. If Madrid beat City, that can always be denied, but it is deliberate. Alonso knows that. He also knows, for all that he tried to talk about player absences and unfairness, not even truly believing his own words, Madrid were awful against Celta: an absence of character, no attitude, a lack of organization.

The Coach: The Most Obvious Solution

But the most vulnerable point, 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 almost every response. The briefest response he gave might have been the most telling, had he truly believed it. Asked if he felt the entire team was behind him, Alonso replied in a solitary term: “yes.”

“Managing Real Madrid doesn't involve transforming the culture; it requires fitting in,” 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 isolated 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 commented: “Our contact with the board is continuous, stemming from belief, solidarity, and care. We stand as one in this situation. Our mindset is geared to confront all obstacles: the team is cohesive, fully believing we can triumph tomorrow, with absolute certainty. It's the Champions League. The Bernabéu is our stage. The ambiance will be unforgettable. That fosters a distinct vitality, particularly within the squad.”