Xabi Alonso Fights for His Position in Fresh Edition of Contemporary Classic

“This is a team, it is a club, and we all go together hand in hand,” the Real Madrid coach insisted, maybe protesting a little too much. “If you coach Real Madrid, you are prepared for anything,” he remarked on the day before Pep Guardiola's side return to 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 shift instantly, and definitively: this opportunity is an duty, too.

Urgent Meetings After Poor Loss at the Bernabéu

Following Madrid’s desperately poor 2-0 home defeat on Sunday, Alonso said he had “formed his own assessments,” and he was not alone. Long after the final whistle, crisis talks carried on, the club’s hierarchy drawing their own conclusions after a solitary triumph in five league games. Their analyses were different and while drastic decisions remain on hold, forbearance is running out, the names of potential replacements already out. “One must confront such circumstances, but my focus is solely on the match, on elements within my power,” Alonso commented

“For sure the coach had a good plan but, in the end we, the players, are the ones on the pitch,” Aurélien Tchouaméni stated. “If we lost 2-0 to Celta, there’s a problem that’s on us: it’s not the coach’s fault.”

A Rapid Decline After Initial 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 never more than a couple of defeats away, where even ties are unacceptable, 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, the ideal solution after a season of lack of discipline and disappointment, Alonso was a cultural shock at a squad-centric organization.

When Madrid won the clásico in late October, they opened a five-point gap at the top. They had triumphed in twelve out of thirteen competitive games, although the defeat was emphatic: 5-2 at Atlético. It also highlighted flaws. Replaced in the 72nd minute, Vinícius Júnior marched straight down the tunnel, seemingly ready to quit the club. In a statement a few days later he apologised to everyone except Alonso. Institutionally, rather than backing the coach, there was radio silence.

Strains Emerging

Within the dressing room, the conclusion was clear: Alonso shouldn’t have taken Vinícius off. Pressed on the issue if he would repeat that decision, Alonso responded: “I am unsure of the purpose of that query. If, in the moment, I believe a decision is required on the field, I will make it.” Frictions had been laid bare, a separation between trainer and a portion of the team. Federico Valverde too had made his frustrations public. The components weren't meshing as they should. A familiar lament began to surface 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, beginning a run of two wins in seven. Capable of a more direct style, they defeated Olympiakos and Athletic Bilbao but between those drew at Rayo, Elche and Girona. After a delay, talks were held to fix fault lines or at least paper over the issues, to bring calm. Focus shifted to the footballers for the first time.

A Temporary Rapprochement

In Bilbao, where they had been brought together a day early, it seemed some compromise had been reached; Alonso yielding to their requests more than they did his. Rapprochement was orchestrated when Vinícius hugged the 44-year-old as he departed. A brief break followed. A few days after, though, Celta beat them and so it falls apart once more.

That it is understood that Alonso’s future is under scrutiny is as significant as the fact it is. If Madrid beat City, that can always be disputed, but it is deliberate. Alonso knows that. He also knows, for all that he tried to talk about injuries and unfairness, not even truly persuading himself, Madrid were dreadful against Celta: an absence of character, poor commitment, an absence of tactical shape.

The Manager: The Simplest Fix

But the most vulnerable point, is always the manager, and Alonso’s future, more than the actual football, overshadowed the preparation 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 most concise reply 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. “We understand the ethos of Real Madrid thoroughly; it's what makes it the globe's greatest club. One must adjust, absorb knowledge, engage with the squad. Certain days bring success, others less so. We must confront this with vigor and optimism; it's the sole path to reversal.”

It was when he was asked if he felt isolated that Alonso talked of a team, a club, that goes in unison, and when attention was turned to the question of backing or its absence 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.”