Real Madrid: 5 burning questions after 3-1 win over Athletic Club

Did Isco do enough to earn more minutes?

So far this season, Isco is 16th on Real Madrid in minutes played in La Liga this season, and he was seemingly frozen out of the lineup in recent weeks. But the Andalusian midfielder made his return to the pitch on Tuesday night as a substitute for Luka Modric, as Real wanted to add some attacking urgency to the side with Isco’s trickery.

I thought Isco was effective, even if he showed some early signs of rust. The man completed all 32 of his passes and drew two fouls. There were some sloppy touches, including one that prevented him from scoring a goal, but the passing and space-creating turns were there for him.

Isco has a role to play for Real Madrid in 2020-2021. I just know it. Because think of it this way. How different is this Real team from last season’s team? The only glaring difference is Martin Odegaard. If Isco could prove himself in the second half of the 2019-2020 season, then he can easily do the same this season for Zidane.

I believe Isco showed enough ability against Athletic Bilbao to warrant additional appearances and maybe even a surprise start at Eibar. Isco put in the work, and while he was not perfect, his passing statistically was. As we saw with that late effort onto the crossbar against Alaves, Isco is the kind of player who can make something out of nothing by working his magic.