Real Madrid: Isco abandons warm-up in Granada in a sulk to return to subs' bench

Real Madrid won convincingly in Los Cármenes but one member of the squad wasn't too happy about how the afternoon turned out. In fact he ended up seething at the decision made by his coach, Carlo Ancelotti. According to Antón Meana on El Larguero: "Tomorrow, the images will highlight Isco's behaviour. People feel free to criticise Bale but you have to take a look at how Isco behaves". Javier Herráez meanwhile gave his account of why Isco looked so aggrieved: "He thought that he was going to come on with Jovic and Camavinga when the three of them were instructed to start warming up. Then they told him that he would come on later, that angered him so he went back to the bench and sat down".

Isco replaces Modric

When Isco returned to the dug-out (just as Mendy made it 1-4), Davide Ancelotti told his father that the player was back in his seat and not warming up. That was the moment when Carletto responded - on seeing that Isco didn't want to continue the warm-up, he brought him on for Luka Modric on 79 minutes. "I made the substitutions to rest those who play more and give a chance to those who haven't been playing as much. We thought about putting Isco on further up-field," the Madrid coach explained in his post-match press conference.

Isco's working relationship with Real Madrid will come to an end in June. From 1 January, he will be able to start negotiating with other clubs. For the moment, Isco is the last midfielder in line in the team's rotation figures (not including the injured Ceballos). Casemiro, Kroos and Modric are the three undisputed starters. The problem for Isco is that Fede Valverde and Camavinga are ahead of him in the pecking order.