Bellingham backs Alonso despite growing pressure on Real Madrid boss after Manchester City defeat
Xabi Alonso has the full backing of Jude Bellingham amid growing speculation the Real Madrid manager could risk losing his job following defeat to Manchester City in the Champions League.
Los Blancos suffered a second consecutive defeat at the Bernabeu as they were beaten 2-1 by Manchester City just three days after losing to Celta Vigo in La Liga.
Rodrygo ended his 32-match drought, but a comeback before the break through Nico O’Reilly and an Erling Haaland penalty turned the tie in City’s favor as Real’s dismal run extended to just two wins from their last eight matches in all competitions.
Their recent form has put added pressure on Alonso, who in November was the subject of rumors of a breakup in his relationship with star Vinicius Junior.
Real are currently seventh in the 36-team standings and are still on course to finish in the automatic qualification spots.
However, they are four points behind Barcelona in La Liga and have won just once in five matches in Spain’s top flight.
But Bellingham believes Real have all the tools to restart their season.
When asked where his team had gone wrong in recent weeks, the 22-year-old told TNT Sports: “It’s probably down to a number of things. We’re still trying to sort it out in the locker room, regardless of what’s going on outside. That kind of noise won’t help.
“It’s about us trying to figure that out inside the dressing room. I think one of the things that’s probably quite obvious is the way we’re managing games at the moment. Some points where we have to suffer, we feel like we’re always conceding and that puts us behind and maybe makes us play in a way that we don’t want to.
“We have everything we need to turn things around. I am convinced that this season is not over just because we are in bad form. As players it is killing us and we will try everything to turn things around.”
Amid mounting pressure on Alonso, the England midfielder insisted the team were “100 per cent” behind the former Real player, adding: “The manager has been great. I have a great relationship with him personally. A lot of the guys do too.
“After the first few games where we drew, we had some great conversations internally where we felt like we were going to be in bad shape. In the last two games we let ourselves down.
“No one is dropping tools, no one is complaining. We’ll have to fall a little behind on the chin, but we’ll have to keep fighting and rebounding.”
