Zinedine Zidane has a team in mind with which he will attempt to win the Champions League again, but Isco doesn’t feature in the starting line-up at Real Madrid and hasn’t for a while, yet he remains a leader with the Spanish national team.
It was obvious that Friday’s friendly match with Germany in Dusseldorf was a welcome tonic for the former Malaga playmaker.
Despite having lost his place at the Estadio Santiago Bernabeu, he slotted into Julen Lopetegui’s team perfectly.
Isco has been one of the former Porto coach’s most dependable stars since the beginning of the qualifying campaign for the 2018 World Cup, and as such, there is an attempt at rebuilding the confidence of the midfielder ahead of the tournament.
As early as the second minute of play, Isco showed his hunger to succeed, chasing down a loose ball with incredible energy, showing his worth to the team.
From that moment on, it was like he hadn’t spent an extended time without a start at Los Blancos.
He was exchanging clever passes with Andres Iniesta and David Silva and the German midfielders couldn’t get near him.
Sami Khedira was forced to foul him twice, whilst he was on the receiving end of some other uncomfortable challenges.
He almost added a goal of his own too, yet Marc-Andre ter Stegen thwarted his best effort, preventing the Spaniard from ever getting too strong a shot away.
Friday’s match showed Isco playing confident football once again, he is fully trusted by his international coach and is comfortable within the system played.
These feelings going a long way to helping a player through a difficult moment, and he can now return to the capital with a renewed sense of purpose.
He can only do his best to change Zidane’s mind and his performance against Germany certainly showed he doesn’t have to prove anything.