Xabi Alonso played it in Mendizorroza. A defeat would have put the finishing touch on the Basque coach in a League match that was very … more than that, since it had become an ultimatum for the white coach since the setback against Celta at the Bernabéu and the defeat against Guardiola’s Manchester City, again in Chamartín, with a healthier image in terms of intensity but without much improvement in the game.
There was no brilliance in Vitoria either, far from it. Xabi Alonso is supported in his position by two sparks of quality and punch. The first, from Mbappé, an insurance in terms of the goal that continues to hunt for Cristiano Ronaldo’s record for scoring in a calendar year, set in 2013 at 59 goals. The Frenchman is only three goals away from that milestone, and although he has two games ahead of him, the Copa del Rey in Talavera de la Reina and the league duel against Sevilla at the Bernabéu, everything indicates that he will not be a participant in Madrid’s debut in the KO tournament, conducive to rotations against a rival from the First Federation, the bronze category.
The second flash in babazorro territory was carried out by Vinicius on the counterattack. The Brazilian overtook the run and then signed the decisive assist for his compatriot Rodrygo, who resolved a complicated ballot when, with a quarter of an hour left in the game, Alava’s Carlos Vicente had taken advantage of a defensive sloppiness by Real Madrid to put a disturbing tie on the scoreboard, another setback that threatened to definitively overthrow the Xabi Alonso era.
The coach from Tolosa continues to lead the Madrid bench, for the moment, but in that kind of limbo between the doubts in the noble zone about his future, without any alternative of guarantees emerging beyond the risky bet on Álvaro Arbeloa, who has just arrived this season at Castilla from the Youth Division of Honor. The silence at the institutional level does not show much confidence that Xabi Alonso is capable of reversing this complex situation in which he finds himself. Not a reference to the coach by Florentino Pérez in his institutional speech on the occasion of the traditional Christmas meal with the media that follow the club’s news.
Locker room support
For now, the Guipuzcoan coach is counting on Mendizorroza’s reaction, in terms of the result at least, and the support of the locker room, which continues to try to publicly show that it supports its coach with statements and gestures such as the hug from Vinicius in the visiting technical area after Rodrygo’s decisive 1-2.
Without control of the match – 48% possession – nor much progress in their play in the midfield, once again stuck, Madrid at least showed involvement and determination to not get carried away after the babazorro draw. Two flashes support Xabi Alonso, who nevertheless still walks on the fine wire of punching. If he carries out the two commitments until the Christmas break, the cup duel against Talavera and the league visit of Sevilla, at least he will be able to breathe easy until the Spanish Super Cup, a real turning point with a derby against Atlético in the semifinals and the possibility of a classic in case he reaches the final. The tournament, in Saudi Arabia, would be the definitive cotton test for a project that remains in doubt.
