{"id":2374,"date":"2025-12-11T04:33:33","date_gmt":"2025-12-11T04:33:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.spotvnow.com\/read\/?p=2374"},"modified":"2025-12-11T04:33:33","modified_gmt":"2025-12-11T04:33:33","slug":"rodrygos-emotional-embrace-goalscorer-stands-by-xabi-alonso-amid-madrids-growing-crisis","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.spotvnow.com\/read\/rodrygos-emotional-embrace-goalscorer-stands-by-xabi-alonso-amid-madrids-growing-crisis\/","title":{"rendered":"Rodrygo\u2019s Emotional Embrace: Goalscorer Stands by Xabi Alonso Amid Madrid\u2019s Growing Crisis"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"model-response-message-contentr_e78dd2d7d520035e\" class=\"markdown markdown-main-panel enable-updated-hr-color\" dir=\"ltr\" aria-live=\"polite\" aria-busy=\"false\">\n<p data-path-to-node=\"6\">For Real Madrid, Wednesday&#8217;s 1-2 Champions League defeat to Manchester City marked a second consecutive home loss and fuelled mounting pressure. But for Rodrygo, the night provided one significant moment of personal catharsis: the Brazilian finally broke his agonizing nine-month goal drought.<\/p>\n<p data-path-to-node=\"7\">His 28th-minute strike was a flash of brilliance, providing a brief lead before City launched their definitive comeback. Though the match ended in defeat, the goal offered immense relief to the forward, who last found the net 32 appearances ago.<\/p>\n<p data-path-to-node=\"8\">&#8220;I really needed that, and I have done for quite a while,&#8221; Rodrygo admitted after the match. &#8220;My objective is always to score and help my team. I have to keep training hard and stay focused, but I hope that after this goal today, my best level will finally return.&#8221;<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">\ud83d\udcac <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/RodrygoGoes?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@RodrygoGoes<\/a>: \u201cWe&#8217;re frustrated because we played really well in the first half.\u201d<br \/>\n\ud83c\udf99\ufe0f Full statements \ud83d\udc49 RM Play<\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Real Madrid C.F. \ud83c\uddec\ud83c\udde7\ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\uddf8 (@realmadriden) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/realmadriden\/status\/1998887198415020237?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">December 10, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p data-path-to-node=\"9\">Intriguingly, Rodrygo maintains a reputation as something of a Champions League specialist, particularly when facing Man City. The goal against City means he has now scored more times against them (<b>five<\/b>) than against any other opponent in a <i>Los Blancos<\/i> shirt.<\/p>\n<p data-path-to-node=\"10\">Yet, that personal milestone was overshadowed by the team&#8217;s struggles. With Real Madrid under intense scrutiny and manager Xabi Alonso feeling the heat over a run of poor results, the atmosphere around the club is volatile.<\/p>\n<p data-path-to-node=\"11\">Following the final whistle, Rodrygo sought out his coach for a significant embrace.<\/p>\n<p data-path-to-node=\"12\">&#8220;I hugged Xabi because I know it&#8217;s a tough time for him too, and I wanted to show that we all support our coach,&#8221; Rodrygo explained, offering a public show of unity amidst swirling speculation regarding Alonso&#8217;s job security.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"instagram-media\" data-instgrm-permalink=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/p\/DSGgC2wiJ4H\/\"><p>&nbsp;<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async defer src=\"\/\/www.instagram.com\/embed.js\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p data-path-to-node=\"13\">Reflecting on the match, the forward lamented the team&#8217;s inability to capitalize on their early advantage.<\/p>\n<p data-path-to-node=\"14\">&#8220;We all feel very frustrated. It wasn\u2019t quite enough,&#8221; he stated. &#8220;I thought we were very good in the first half, and that put us 1-0 up, but it wasn\u2019t a big enough lead. We still need to improve. All of us were completely aware that these games are determined by minor details, and that\u2019s what happened tonight.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p data-path-to-node=\"15\">Rodrygo&#8217;s latest strike moves him up the list of all-time top Brazilian scorers in the UEFA Champions League:<\/p>\n<table data-path-to-node=\"16\">\n<thead>\n<tr>\n<td><strong>Player<\/strong><\/td>\n<td><strong>Goals<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td><span data-path-to-node=\"16,1,0,0\">Neymar<\/span><\/td>\n<td><span data-path-to-node=\"16,1,1,0\">43<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td><span data-path-to-node=\"16,2,0,0\">Kak\u00e1<\/span><\/td>\n<td><span data-path-to-node=\"16,2,1,0\">30<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td><span data-path-to-node=\"16,3,0,0\">Vin\u00edcius J\u00fanior<\/span><\/td>\n<td><span data-path-to-node=\"16,3,1,0\">29<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td><span data-path-to-node=\"16,4,0,0\">Rivaldo<\/span><\/td>\n<td><span data-path-to-node=\"16,4,1,0\">27<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td><span data-path-to-node=\"16,5,0,0\"><b>Rodrygo<\/b><\/span><\/td>\n<td><span data-path-to-node=\"16,5,1,0\"><b>26<\/b><\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<hr data-path-to-node=\"17\" \/>\n<p data-path-to-node=\"20\">\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>For Real Madrid, Wednesday&#8217;s 1-2 Champions League defeat to Manchester City marked a second consecutive home loss and fuelled mounting pressure. But for Rodrygo, the night provided one significant moment of personal catharsis: the Brazilian finally broke his agonizing nine-month goal drought. His 28th-minute strike was a flash of brilliance, providing a brief lead before &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.spotvnow.com\/read\/rodrygos-emotional-embrace-goalscorer-stands-by-xabi-alonso-amid-madrids-growing-crisis\/\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Rodrygo\u2019s Emotional Embrace: Goalscorer Stands by Xabi Alonso Amid Madrid\u2019s Growing Crisis<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":2375,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[121,17,5],"tags":[127],"class_list":["post-2374","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-football","category-popular","category-top-stories","tag-football"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.spotvnow.com\/read\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2374","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.spotvnow.com\/read\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.spotvnow.com\/read\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.spotvnow.com\/read\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.spotvnow.com\/read\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2374"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.spotvnow.com\/read\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2374\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2378,"href":"https:\/\/www.spotvnow.com\/read\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2374\/revisions\/2378"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.spotvnow.com\/read\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2375"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.spotvnow.com\/read\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2374"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.spotvnow.com\/read\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2374"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.spotvnow.com\/read\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2374"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}