Three games before the final test for Xabi

The Bernabéu showed its claws for the first time this season. What Xabi and his players offered simply wasn’t enough. Real Madrid improved against City in both their play and their overall feel. The team’s attitude was markedly different, yet football is ultimately judged by results, and the defeat to Guardiola’s side – despite a new tone and noticeably better energy – prompted a reaction from the crowd that the club’s hierarchy did not appreciate.

A coach’s and a squad’s future is dictated by victories or, as has been the case for Madrid in recent weeks, by a steady accumulation of missteps and a failure to take all three points. That trend has placed particular pressure on Xabi Alonso. As we at AS have been reporting, there has been no ultimatum, but the numbers are edging dangerously close to the red, and numbers are what ultimately rule.

Defeats erode credibility, and the manager’s stock is running out. The rope always snaps on that end, and Xabi is the first to know it. The position of comfort the team enjoyed a month ago is long gone. Still, the grace period granted by the club’s decision-makers for their next review – or rather, their evaluation – continues to point to January as the crucial moment.

The atmosphere in the directors’ box on Sunday against Celta had nothing to do with the one against City, though one detail did not go unnoticed: fans have begun to distance themselves from what they saw during stretches of the second half. This time, their frustration targeted both players and manager, but club officials also noted that the squad backed their coach – or at least ran, competed and showed signs of having shed the tension of recent weeks.

The message from the club remains one of patience, but patience has limits, and the Bernabéu’s response made clear that attitude alone is no longer enough – more is being demanded. The question they now want answered is whether this team, this coach and this group can turn around something that has become more than concerning.

Three games remain before the end of 2025 – Alavés, Talavera and Sevilla – and the team must stop the bleeding immediately. After that will come a two–week break before Betis in La Liga and Atlético in the Super Cup. Days ago, the trip to Saudi Arabia was described as decisive. Now, the focus has shifted to these next three games as the real decision window.

As for the players’ attitude and the criticism directed at them, this does not stem from the night against City but from what came before. The crowd’s reaction toward Vinicius was clear, though the club still believes in the Brazilian, even as they ask for improvement and sharper execution. The same goes for Bellingham. Meanwhile, some in the directors’ box offered ironic applause at the brief appearance and performance of Endrick in the ten minutes he spent on the field – minutes that bring his total for the season to just twenty.

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