Xabi Alonso Fights for His Position in Newest Edition of Modern Fixture

“We are a united club, a team, and we all move forward together,” 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 the English champions return to the Santiago Bernabéu for another edition of a very modern classic. “I’m looking forward to what’s coming and that starts tomorrow, [an opportunity] to turn round the anger. In our heads, there’s only City. In football, for better or worse, things change quickly”. A defeat and things could shift instantly, and for good: this chance is an imperative, too.

Crisis Talks After Poor Loss at the Bernabéu

Following Madrid’s woefully inadequate 2-0 setback on Sunday, Alonso said he had “drawn conclusions,” and he was in plentiful company. Long after the final whistle, crisis talks carried on, the club’s leadership reaching their own verdicts after a mere one victory in five league games. Their analyses were different and while radical changes are temporarily shelved, tolerance has limits, the names of candidates already out. “One must confront such circumstances, but my focus is solely on the match, on elements within my power,” Alonso said here

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

A Rapid Decline After Early Promise

City will be his twenty-eighth outing in charge of Madrid and it might be his final one at a club where a state of emergency is never more than a couple of defeats away, where even sharing points is insufficient, and there’s perpetually an alternative who can coach. Things have indeed shifted swiftly, even if the origins of the trouble were there from the start. Presented as a systems coach, the ideal solution after a season of lack of discipline and disappointment, Alonso was counter-cultural at a squad-centric organization.

When Madrid won the clásico in late October, they established a five-point lead at the top. They had secured twelve victories in thirteen competitive games, although the setback was significant: 5-2 at Atlético. It also exposed fissures. Substituted on 72 minutes, Vinícius Júnior headed directly for the dressing room, seemingly ready to quit the club. In a letter a few days later he expressed regret to all apart from Alonso. From the club's leadership, rather than backing the coach, there was silence.

Strains Coming to Light

Behind the scenes, the verdict was clear: Alonso was wrong to remove Vinícius off. Pressed on the issue if he would repeat that decision, Alonso responded: “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 brought to the surface, a separation between manager and certain squad members. Federico Valverde too had expressed his irritation publicly. The puzzle pieces weren't aligning as they should. A familiar lament began to emerge about all the instructions, the videos, the extended practices. Who did he think he was, the manager?!

More than 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 beat Olympiakos and Athletic Bilbao but between those were held by 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 compromise had been established; Alonso accommodating their demands more than they did his. A thawing of relations was displayed when Vinícius embraced the manager as he departed. A couple of days' rest followed. Subsequently, though, Celta beat them and so it unravels again.

That it is known that Alonso’s future is on the line is as significant as the fact it is. If Madrid beat City, that can always be disputed, but it is intentional. Alonso knows that. He also knows, for all that he tried to talk about fitness issues and unfairness, not even truly believing his own words, Madrid were dreadful against Celta: an absence of character, no attitude, an absence of tactical shape.

The Manager: The Most Obvious Solution

But the weakest link, is always the manager, and Alonso’s future, more than the actual football, 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 significant, had he truly believed it. Asked if he felt the whole squad was behind him, Alonso replied in a single word: “yes.”

“Being Madrid manager is not about changing [the culture]; it is about adapting,” 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 together, and when attention was turned to the question of support or the lack of it from above, he answered: “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.”