Real Madrid lost 21 to Manchester City in an exciting match of the champions league at Santiago Bernabue but Xabi Alonso, the manager of Real Madrid praised his players because of their efforts despite the loss.
Alonso, who assumed the office in June, has had a very challenging beginning, having won only two out of eight matches in all competitions. Alonso had to make on-the-fly changes in the squad when key defenders Eder Militao, Trent Alexander-Arnold, Dani Carvajal, Dean Huijsen, and forward Kylian Mbappe were injured, making the squad further weak.
On a daily basis, Alonso said that he liked the attitude of the players. It is injuries, but our players are doing their best and our players do not have anything to complain about today.
On the one hand, Real Madrid got off to a good start with Rodrygo scoring in the 28 th minute. Thibaut Courtois however made a wrong decision on a corner, and Nico O’Reilly equalized the situation a bit later. Antonio Ruediger later gave away a penalty over Erling Haaland, and sealed the 2-1 win of City.
In spite of the loss, Alonso was thankful that the fans still supported him. When you lose at home, you can whistle but there have been occasions where fans have been behind us, he said.
The defeat makes the Madrid campaign in the champions league harder considering they have lost and now sit at the seventh position with 12 points and Manchester City has won and is at the fourth position with 13 points. Analysts caution that successive defeats would be a threat to the European aspirations of Madrid this season.
In the future, Real Madrid will have a game in LaLiga with Alavés on Sunday. The center of attention of Alonso will be on absorbing returning players and refining strategies to overcome the injury crisis. The manager is still hopeful of his team fighting spirit and that with the recurrent performances, the team can still salvage the season despite the present issues.
