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“We are a collective, a single entity, and we are all in this as one,” Xabi Alonso insisted, maybe affirming a little too much. “If you coach Real Madrid, you are prepared for anything,” he added on the morning before the English champions step back into the Santiago Bernabéu for a new 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.” Failure and things could change immediately, and definitively: this opportunity is an duty, too.

Crisis Talks After Poor Loss at the Bernabéu

Following Madrid’s utterly disappointing 2-0 setback on Sunday, Alonso revealed he had “reached some conclusions,” and he was not alone. Late into the night, crisis talks carried on, the club’s hierarchy reaching their own verdicts after a mere one victory in five league games. Their analyses were not the same and while radical changes are temporarily shelved, patience is finite, the names of possible successors already out. “You have to face those situations but my head’s only on the game, things I can control,” Alonso said here

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

A Quick Deterioration After Initial Promise

City will be his 28th game in charge of Madrid and it might be his final one at a club where a turmoil is never more than a couple of defeats away, where even ties are unacceptable, and there’s perpetually an alternative who can coach. Things have indeed evolved rapidly, even if the origins of the trouble were there from the start. Presented as a tactical disciplinarian, precisely the required remedy after a season of laissez-faire and failure, Alonso was an anomaly at a squad-centric organization.

When Madrid secured victory against Barcelona in late October, they opened a five-point gap at the top. They had triumphed in twelve out of thirteen competitive games, although the loss had been heavy: 5-2 at Atlético. It also exposed fissures. Substituted on 72 minutes, Vinícius Júnior marched straight down the tunnel, seemingly ready to quit the club. In a missive a few days later he said sorry to all but Alonso. Institutionally, rather than reinforcing the manager, there was radio silence.

Tensions Brought to the Surface

Behind the scenes, the assessment was evident: Alonso shouldn’t have taken Vinícius off. Asked here if he would repeat that decision, 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.” Strains had been brought to the surface, 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 film sessions, the long sessions. Who did he think he was, the manager?!

Nine days after the clásico, Madrid were overcome at Liverpool, initiating a spell of two wins in seven. Capable of a more direct style, they overcame Olympiakos and Athletic Bilbao but between those were held by Rayo, Elche and Girona. Belatedly, talks were held to repair cracks or at least cover cracks, to restore tranquility. Focus shifted to the footballers for the first time.

A Temporary Truce

In Bilbao, where they had been gathered a day early, it seemed some middle ground had been reached; Alonso accommodating their demands more than they did his. A thawing of relations was staged when Vinícius embraced the manager as he departed. A brief break followed. Subsequently, though, Celta beat them and so it disintegrates anew.

That it is known that Alonso’s future is in doubt 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 bad luck, not even truly believing his own words, Madrid were terrible against Celta: an absence of character, a deficient mentality, a lack of organization.

The Coach: The Easiest Target

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 refocus on the match, which he did with almost every response. 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 one word: “yes.”

“Being Madrid manager is not about changing [the culture]; it is about adapting,” Alonso stated. “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 hand in hand, and when attention was turned to the question of support or the lack of it 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.”