Real Madrid: 5 takeaways from an eventful 3-3 draw with Levante

A renewed Isco emerges

There is a lot of revisionist history regarding Isco that comes to the ex-Malaga man’s detriment. The most egregious is that he was never good for Real Madrid, though there are very, very few people trying to spin that narrative. However, some Madridistas will act as if Isco was not useful in 2019-2020 when Real won LaLiga, when, in fact, he had some very important performances against the likes of Barcelona and Osasuna.

Banking on Isco returning to his world-class form is unrealistic and probably unfair to the midfielder, but for 45 minutes against Levante, he was at that level again. It was astonishing to see how active he was on the pitch, particularly defensively. Isco looked like a man reborn, taking well to Ancelotti’s return in his first starting opportunity under the man who brought Los Blancos La Decima.

Isco was the best player on the pitch with the ball at his feet, and he took full command. He will need to find more splitting passes in future matches, but his dribbling ability gave Real the control they needed with Toni Kroos and Luka Modric both injured.

Nobody wants to be the first to yell “He’s back!” in case they are wrong, but we have years of evidence to say that Isco is capable of playing at this level for a sustained period. The key for Ancelotti will be putting Isco in a position where he can deliver like this consistently, even if he is not always a part of the lineup.