Xabi Alonso continues, for now. Although his dismissal was assumed if Real Madrid lost at the Santiago Bernabéu against Manchester City … of Pep Guardiola, as happened on Wednesday night, the reality is that, barring a major surprise, the Guipuzcoan coach will lead the whites in next Sunday’s league clash against Alavés in Mendizorroza, against Talavera in the Cup and at the end of the year with Sevilla at the Bernabéu. From there, Florentino and God will say.
There is nothing attributable to the coach in the approach of that duel lost against the ‘cityzens’, nor in the management of the bench, even bringing on Endrick in the final stretch. Real Madrid lost and there were whistles from the fans in some phases and at the end of the game, but the group fell on their feet because the attitude of the players this time was very professional and the game was acceptable.
Especially at the beginning in the last part of the match, the white team trapped Guardiola’s team, who won due to two specific and rude errors, by Courtois in the first goal and by Rüdiger in the resounding penalty for grabbing Haaland. It is also true that the Belgian goalkeeper avoided a couple of goals with his colossal saves, but City was only clearly dominant for half an hour of the second act.
Xabi Alonso, who in each appearance must face questions about his future that are difficult to answer and that should rather be addressed to the president, ended up sad about the defeat, but proud of the support of his players, both in private and in public. “We are to death with the coach,” Courtois emphasized, convinced that if the team let itself go, it would have lost 0-6. «The locker room is with Xabi and understands his message. There has been a change in attitude and we deserved something more,” Raúl Asencio made clear.
That the locker room is with its coach was staged better than anyone by Rodrygo, the biggest green shoot that Madrid showed against City and an old wish of a Pep Guardiola who idolizes him. “I have told him that he is very good, a player of another level,” the Catalan coach told the Brazilian, who scored again after nine months and 31 games of drought. After scoring his fifth goal against a Guardiola team, a record only surpassed by Messi and Benzema, he ran to the bench to hug Xabi Alonso.
«We have nothing to reproach ourselves although we are in a moment in which any blow hurts you a lot. We conceded little to them, but enough for them to turn the game around too quickly. Then we tried, but we lacked finesse,” reflected the Tolosarra before remarking that “he is worried about the next game because the important thing is Real Madrid,” not the future of his coach.
Contrast the displays of affection from the squad before and after the battle against City with the way of acting and the public silence of the board governed by Florentino Pérez. If the senior leader maintained full confidence in Xabi Alonso, the simplest thing would be a public endorsement. If no one nips the growing rumor mill in the bud, the thesis that the coach is doomed will spread.
Two wins in eight games
Madrid is alive in the League, still four points behind Barça in the first round, and depends on itself to finish in the top 8 of the Champions League. But the red alarm is on because it is set for bad results and its coach can’t find the key. A crisis that had the exception of the convincing victory in San Mamés.
Four defeats so far this season are not many, but the problem is that the bad data has skyrocketed since the classic. Barça left the Bernabéu five points behind, but the balance in the last eight white games is reduced to only two victories, the one suffered in the Olympiacos fiefdom and the one against Athletic. In addition, draws against rivals from another League such as Rayo, Girona and Elche, and three defeats against Liverpool, Celta, perhaps the one that hurt the most, and City.
The plague of injuries, many of them muscular, leaves Xabi Alonso’s coaching staff in a terrible position and also puts the work of the doctors into question. There is a justification that the Club World Cup came with hardly any rest and that the preseason was very short, but Madrid faced the duel against City with eight absences, the last one as important as Kylian Mbappé, scorer of half of his team’s goals so far this campaign. With so much loss, it was almost normal for Guardiola to win his seventh victory at the Bernabéu, more than anyone else.
