Something is amiss with Isco. The 25-year-old seemed to be on a crest of a wave as he helped Real Madrid win a Champions League and La Liga double in 2016-17, but this term, things have been rather more difficult for the former Malaga midfielder.
While the Spain star took his chance in the extended absence of Gareth Bale last season and stayed in the side all the way to the Champions League final in Cardiff, he is now not even a guaranteed starter when Los Blancos are missing several key players.
An unused substitute in the Clasico clash against Barcelona at the Santiago Bernabeu before Christmas, Isco has started only six of Madrid's 14 games so far in 2018 and when he has featured, he has looked a shadow of his former self, slowing the team down in what is now a predictable 4-3-1-2 system.