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Manchester City visit Real Madrid in the Champions League with Madrid boss Xabi Alonso under huge pressure
Manchester City will enter a frazzled, fractured and frosty Bernabeu on Wednesday night to face a Real Madrid side on the brink of crisis. Manager Xabi Alonso is under huge pressure, Los Blancos have won just two of their last seven matches in all competitions and on Sunday night subsided to a 2-0 home defeat to Celta Vigo where they had three players sent off.
Spanish paper Marca reported that the club's directors met in the aftermath of that defeat to discuss the campaign so far with the crisis meeting lasting until the early hours and centring on the lack of form, a defensive injury crisis, refereeing decisions and Alonso's future and relationship with his squad.
The visit of City to the Spanish capital could yet be the final nail in the manager's coffin despite the former Bayer Leverkusen boss only taking up the job in the summer. The headlines from the defeat to Celta Vigo labelled Madrid 'sluggish' and 'disgraceful' and Alonso is facing mounting pressure to stem the tide. He spoke about doing just that when City visit.
"On Wednesday we have the Champions League to react and get rid of this bad taste in our mouths," the Real boss said after Sunday's loss. "It hurts, we’re angry, and now we have to show another side on Wednesday. "We all take the blame, in the good moments and in the not so good ones. We have to take it responsibly. We don’t have to look too long term. The situation is tight because of injuries. We have to change things, we’ll see."
Alonso faced a 10am press conference on Tuesday to preview the City game and his 10-minute media appearance was dominated by questions on his future. The 44-year-old did his best to project calm, refusing to get into any lengthy answers and regularly insisting his focus was on the next game and that he was it as an "opportunity".
His bluntest came when he was asked if he had the support of the dressing room, offering just a "yes" in reply. At one point he was also asked what he made of stories linking people with his job.
"When you are the coach of Real Madrid you need to be ready to face these situations and I only have the game in my mind," he said.
In the end, Alonso's grilling from the notoriously difficult Madrid press was softer than many had expected, but his future remains in the balance. It felt telling that the question that he seemed most engaged on was whether he was open to returning to the Premier League one day. That opportunity could yet come sooner rather than later and the fact he namechecked Liverpool in his answer will set tongues wagging.
Madrid have knocked City out of the last two editions of the Champions League and begin the midweek fixtures above Pep Guardiola's men in the standings after the Blues slumped to a home defeat to Alonso's old club Leverkusen last time out. Indeed Madrid are still second in La Liga, albeit four points adrift of leaders Barcelona, so their season is certainly salvageable.
But with the spotlight very much on Alonso and Co, City have an opportunity to beat Madrid for the first time since that swashbuckling 4-0 success on the way to the treble. Guardiola's side are in need of points to earn a top eight spot, although the safety net of games against Bodo Glimt and Galatasaray in January mean it is far from win or bust in the Spanish capital.
Madrid vs City has been a blockbuster tie in recent seasons. Expect fireworks on Wednesday night too, but they could come from the Real hierarchy.
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