The situation of Xabi Alonso at Madrid has reached a point of almost no return, turning the match against Manchester City of Pep Guardiola into a summary trial of 90 minutes on the Basque coach's project at Bernabéu. A trial towards the coach, questioned, but also towards the players, with whom there is significant discontent within the club. In case of a nighttime drama, Alonso will be the victim, but a large part of the locker room will be marked by what Tchouaméni claimed this Tuesday: "It's not the coach's fault, we lack intensity."
Madrid will play at home, in Europe, against the most antagonistic coach of the club, with several key injuries while the name of Antonio Pintus resurfaces, with the locker room divided between those who support him and those who do not, and with the names of Zidane, Solari, Arbeloa, and Klopp sliding through the national media spotlight. Disaster or oxygen.
After the disaster against Celta, the meeting between several directors in the early hours of Sunday to Monday at Bernabéu, reported by this newspaper, summed up Alonso's moment on the bench. It was no coincidence. Florentino Pérez, reluctant to make decisions mid-season in recent years, locked himself in an office with his trusted men and considered the possibility of dismissing Alonso that same night. That's how big the doubts are from part of the noble zone with the coach, who has only one victory in five matches and has gone from leading the league with a five-point advantage over Barça to being second, four points behind the Blaugrana, eroding the confidence of the top brass in a project that is barely six months old.
But Florentino held on, advised by his close circle members who still hold hope for Xabi, with the match against Guardiola as the definitive turning point.
The board perceives a certain lack of control in managing a tumultuous locker room. The poor results have brought to light the complaints of some players and have divided the squad. Xabi still has supporters, but the lack of victories is decisive.
Furthermore, the coach has seen how the infirmary has been filling up non-stop in recent weeks, with the club once again focusing on the medical services and the physical preparation of the first team. At the end of last season, Madrid decided that Antonio Pintus, Florentino's star signing in 2021, even before Ancelotti's arrival, would stop coordinating the preparation and take on a more general role in the organization. A detail that the board allowed the new coaching staff and is now being remembered.
Alonso has tried to unite the group in recent weeks, getting closer to the players in their daily lives and allowing some concessions, but they have not quite resonated with a squad that is also beginning to attract media attention. The doubts with Xabi are evident in the club, but there is also significant discontent with the players' attitude, intensity, and complaints. A dynamic that has silenced Valdebebas amid a strange atmosphere. "It's the players' moment," was repeated in the club a few days ago. And that moment has not arrived.
The noble zone of Madrid cannot afford a climate of continued insurrection, so in the balance between players and coach, as always, Alonso would fall, having lost part of the group since the day he did not punish Vinicius after his anger over the substitution in El Clásico. "I don't know what that's about," the Basque coach got upset yesterday when asked if he would make that substitution again.
In a press conference where he showed a low profile, far from reacting to the meetings and rumors of recent hours. He appealed to the unity of the group and the support that, according to him, "the entire squad" gives him, but he avoided criticizing the players' mistakes, as Tchouaméni did later. The Frenchman is one of his trusted men and was chosen by the club to be the spokesperson to the press. A clear message to those who maintain their criticisms.
On the other side, Guardiola and a City in their prime. They have three consecutive victories in the Premier League, five in the last six matches, and are just two points behind Arsenal in the fight for the top spot. They arrive at Bernabéu with a need, ninth, outside the top eight after the loss in Leverkusen and with the opportunity to surpass Madrid in the table with a victory.