Isco's stage at Real Madrid seems close to coming to an end when the man from Malaga is immersed in his eighth season at the white club. An extensive journey in which he has given magical afternoons and nights to Real Madrid and has accumulated a track record available to very few, including four Champions in whose finals he had a relevant participation. But not everything has been lights. The ups and downs in his performance have put him in the spotlight on more than one occasion and his physical form has also been questioned on more than one occasion. In recent times, the figure of Isco has been involved in controversy, especially in Solari's brief stage on the bench. For the past two years, Isco has gone from conflict to conflict.
Zidane's goodbye ended one of the best moments of the Costa del Sol at Madrid. After a start to the season in which it was a recurring change for the coach, Isco regained his confidence and made a hole in the eleven to the detriment of Bale, who won the pulse for the start in the Kiev final. The Frenchman decided to leave, but a Lopetegui arrived who as coach had shown an almost unshakable faith in Isco. “On a personal level, the signing of Lopetegui is good news,” said the player. But while appendicitis crossed the footballer's path, poor results began to endanger Asteasu's position. Until it fell.
With Solari, things went wrong from the first moment. First, even from doors to the outside of the locker room. The Argentine bet on his first match, in the Cup in Melilla, to give the opportunity to the less usual and some of his pupils in Castilla. It was October 31st, Halloween night. Isco stayed in Madrid and, coinciding with the dispute of the match, his partner, Sara Sálamo, published a photo on networks of the family celebrating the night in disguise. An attitude that aroused the ire of the fans.
The punctual became habitual with Solari
His absence in eleven became chronic. In the next four games he did not appear for the eleven either. until Solari left him in the stands in Rome. “They are specific decisions for specific moments,” the coach justified himself. The punctuality became habitual. The cold war was a fact. And Isco wasn't biting his tongue. In any forum. He answered on Instagram to those who criticized his alleged excess weight with a photo without a shirt and a survey asking if they saw him fat. Only he knows the result of the survey. What did elicit almost unanimity was When Solari finally made him a place in the eleven, Isco caused a fire at the Bernabéu. And not because of the class that so many other nights had turned on, for the better, the stands. With the classification for the round of 16 closed, it was an inconsequential Champions League match against CSKA, but the result (0-3 defeat) bristled spirits and Isco was the target of a whistle. A verdict that unleashed the ire of the player, who faced the public.
Isco retires substituted in Leganés avoiding Solari in the first leg of the second round of the Copa del Rey.
DANI SANCHEZ (DIARIO AS)
Isco continued adding rudeness. He did not train at the end of a Real Madrid-Rayo, breaking the rule that non-starters do some exercises after the game and he avoided Solari's gaze when in a Cup match, where his leading role was relegated, he replaced him in Leganés. Chendo suffered another rudeness when Isco denied the delegate a greeting in a Real Madrid-Alavés game in which he jumped onto the field in the 86th minute. A slight resolved with a mandatory photo on social networks.
The fire, far from extinguishing, was rekindled in the last days of the Solari stage. The spark ignited in the networks, with a message from Isco. “When you don't have the same opportunities as your peers …”. The coach, who was restrained so many times, this time did not hesitate to answer him publicly at a press conference: “Football is working and putting talent at the service of the team, training one hundred percent in each training session and giving everything. That is the job. to be available when it's time to play. “
“To play you have to get in shape first”
The Argentine did not call him up for the second leg against Ajax and Isco saved himself the bad drink of witnessing the resounding European elimination in the stands. A behavior that motivated Solari to ask the club to open a file on Isco. No one concealed hostilities. A few days later, in the run-up to his last game, the coach threw another dart at Isco's attitude: “We handle disciplinary issues internally. To play you have to get in physical shape first and then competitively, that is inexorable”. Solari has already been stripped of his position, The spar from Cadena SER reported that Solari refused to pass the weight checks that the Argentine subjected to the white squad every Monday.
LaLiga Santander
* Data updated as of November 21, 2020
The same week that Zidane returned, Isco attended an Adidas publicity event in which he was resounding: “The return of Zidane is good news for everyone.” A new chapter was opening for Isco, but not everything has been rosy for him. Maybe more like flashing orange. This has been his performance and his presence in the eleven of Zidane. His recent best moment came through in the middle of last season, when the Frenchman adjusted his drawing to make room for it and give it prominence, without too much shine, in the important matches.
The last snub to Zidane
When they have been badly given, Isco has left his words in evidence. Less than a month ago, Movistar + cameras captured him in the run-up to the El Clásico in the stands of the Camp Nou, complaining about his situation to Marcelo, Militao and Lucas Vázquez. “It changes me in 50 'or 60', sometimes at halftime, and if I go out he puts me in 80.” An X-ray that is not entirely true to reality, but that shows Isco's discontent with a situation that makes him consider leaving Real Madrid.