The future of Real Madrid boss Xabi Alonso has become a talking point in the Spanish capital, after his side were booed off by the Bernabeu crowd following a 2-0 defeat to Celta Vigo.
Williot Swedberg’s second-half brace was enough for Celta to secure a first win over Real in La Liga since May 2014, with the hosts ending the match with nine men after Fran Garcia and Alvaro Carreras were sent off, with unused substitute Endrick also shown a red card.
Xabi Alonso's future assessed
Next up for Real is a Champions League clash at home to Manchester City, with Alonso knowing that he needs a reaction from his squad if they are to stop this blip from becoming a prolonged slide.
Alonso revealed earlier in the week that club president Florentino Perez had summoned him for talks over the club’s stuttering form, which has seen a positive start to the season evaporate.
"We are all angry, evidently this was not the game we wanted, it was not the result we wanted," Alonso said, as per the BBC.
"We have to try and turn the page as quickly as possible. It's only three points. We have the Champions League game against City to react in, and get this bad taste out of our mouths."
And according to Spanish outlet AS, Wednesday night’s Champions League tie is being viewed as a ‘crucial test’ for the coach. The report adds that the shock defeat to Celta is not expected to impact his ‘immediate future’ in the job.
Alonso - who FourFourTwo ranked at no.6 in a list of the best managers in the world earlier this year - arrived at the Bernabeu in the summer, when he stood down from his role at Bayer Leverkusen to replace Brazil-bound Carlo Ancelotti.
A run of 13 wins in 14 matches came to an end against Liverpool in the Champions League last month and in recent weeks, there has been a steady flow of negative stories in the Spanish press.
In FourFourTwo’s view, Alonso will know he does not have the luxury of time to turn his side’s fortunes around, given that recent results already got the volatile Perez’s back up.
Alonso has not been helped by injuries, particularly at the back, while only Kylian Mbappe is proving to be the only regular and reliable goalscorer for him, but the coach has not helped himself with his use of players in roles that they are not especially suited to.
Should Manchester City - who have quietly moved to within two points of Premier League leaders Arsenal - inflict another Bernabeu defeat, this pressure will only increase.
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