Kolkata, Dec. 12 -- Even as he praised the players' attitude, Xabi Alonso would know that the end could be near. At Real Madrid, attitude matters little if it does not fetch a win on a big night. As a former player, Alonso would know that. Wednesday's 1-2 defeat to Manchester City in the Champions League meant Real Madrid had won only two of their last eight matches in all competitions. In his 22 match in charge, this was Alonso's second consecutive defeat after the 0-2 defeat to Celta Vigo at home when Real were down to nine because of two red cards. At Real, coaches have been removed for less because as Alonso said, "the demands are so high." There were jeers at the Santiago Bernabeu and though Thibaut Courtois and Raul Asencio said the team was united and Rodrygo embraced his coach after scoring, reports in the Spanish media about the coach not having the changing room are too recent to be forgotten. It would have been had Real, record-extending 15-time Champions League winners, had produced more than glimpses of the team that won 13 of their first 14 matches in all competitions. Rodrygo's goal in the 28th minute, his first in 33 matches, came after a period of sustained domination. The individual brilliance of Vinicius Jr was too much for Matheus Nunes and City were lucky that VAR found the infringement just outside the penalty box. Allowed a free role, Jude Bellingham had imposed himself on Manchester City. Rodrygo's goal came off a move when Real majestically swept the ball from left to right. This was after Vinicius Jr had again come close, off a Rodrygo delivery. City were yet to have a shot when Real had forged ahead with their fifth. The Bernabeu cheered. But like Liverpool now and Manchester City around this time last year, Real are fragile even when ahead. By half-time, not only were City leading 2-1, it could well have been more but for Courtois. The Belgian, though, could have done better with Josko Gvardiol's header which led to City's equaliser. With his first Champions League goal in the 35th minute, Nico O'Reilly compensated for not being able to catch up with Rodrygo earlier. It was O'Reilly's cross that Erling Haaland would have got to if Antonio Ruediger had not felled him. Penalty and City were 2-1 ahead in the 43rd minute; Haaland scoring his 34th goal of the season for club and country. Alonso brought on Endrick for Asencio, an attacker for a defender, to salvage a point. The young Brazilian was denied by the framework. Bellingham, too, could have made it 2-2 but failed to lob Gianluigi Donnarumma. A defence depleted by injuries has been a problem for Real. It continues to be one even after they bought defenders and made changes to their medical team. Not available for Wednesday were Eder Militao, Dani Carvajal, Ferland Mendy, David Alaba, Dean Huijsen and Trent Alexander-Arnold (the last two being new buys along with Alvaro Carreras). Which meant barring Eduardo Camavinga and Kylian Mbappe, everyone unavailable were defenders. And though this wasn't applicable against City, getting Real to play another way has also been difficult. The high-press style Alonso used so effectively at Bayer Leverkusen is difficult to impose on this roster of galacticos and reluctant trackers. If Real looked good in parts, it was because City got them to play the counter-attacking style they are comfortable with. City weren't the "vision of perfection" that Alonso once said Pep Guardiola's teams were. "The level is not quite enough," said Guardiola before accepting that City have played better at Madrid previously but not won. They were eliminated by Madrid in the play-off last season. And who can forget the heist in 2022 when Real pulled back from the brink to win 3-1 through Rodrygo's brace and Karim Benzema's penalty. "Until the goal from Nico, they were much better than us. I will take the result but I know we need to be better. I know that in February and March, if we go through, the level we require is higher than today," said Guardiola. There were enough positives to show that City can be around that time next year. Jeremy Doku and O'Reilly caused deep-lying Real defence problems, compensating for Phil Foden being anonymous. City's ability to switch play to the two left-side players was impressive and with his nutmeg of Ruediger and a pass for Haaland that nearly became an assist, Rayan Cherki was impressive....