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By Michael Hincks
Madrid lose but reach Copa del Rey in quarter-final 3-1 in total
Last updated: 16/01/19 23:16
Isco started his third match under Santiago Solari on Wednesday night
The third start of Isco under Santiago Solari ended in a disappointment as the Vinicius Junior experience continued in the Real Madrid Copa del Rey match at Leganes, reports Michael Hincks of Estadio Butarque.
Solari was once again questioned about his relationship with Isco after leaving the midfielder on the bench for Real's win in Real Betis on Sunday.
"In any case, there is nothing personal," said Solari, who felt justified by his choice of substitutes after Dani Ceballos returned from the bench to score a goal in the 88th minute. Opta He said the club had won all six matches when Isco was dropped by the Real boss, against seven out of 11 wins when he was featured.
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This is not a completely overwhelming statistic, but Solari turning to youthfulness and overlooking Isco, another question mark hovers over the future of this 26-year-old man, linked to Manchester City and Bayern Munich last month by the Spanish press.
Solari did little to calm the discussions on a move before the match for Leganes. "We have a wonderful team and I have to choose who will participate in every game," he said. "It's not for me to explain the transfer policy, I'm just the coach."
Isco debuted at Leganes for the third time in 18 Solari matches. Having also started their final match in the Champions League semifinals against CSKA Moscow and the return leg of the previous round of Copa del Rey against Melilla, Real were already 4-0. This was not a sign of confidence on the part of Real's head coach.
Isco came out in the middle of the second half at Leganes
Playing behind Vinicius Jr in a 4-2-3-1, Isco had one more point to prove, but the first half did not go as planned, with Real looking to protect a 3-0 aggregate lead. .
Leganes resumed the game in the 30th minute thanks to Martin Braithwaite, a minute after Isco missed the best half-time opportunity when his shot was blocked by a quick goal.
After a difficult first half, the Isco figure was up 23 minutes in the second. Cristo Gonzalez replaced him, but Solari did not recognize him as he came back to the usual view of the bench.
While Real lost 1-0 – even though it was still qualifying for the quarter-finals – this undesirable stat for Isco rose to seven out of 12 victories …
The growing importance of Vinicius Jr
Vinicius Jr has nevertheless become an essential cog in the Real's offensive wheel. Starting at the Butarque was not a punishment for the Brazilian, but rather a willingness to keep his momentum ahead of a key home league match against Sevilla on Saturday.
The 18-year-old has not started his league match under former boss Julen Lopetegui, but has played 90 minutes in each of their last two games under Solari against Real Sociedad and Betis respectively.
Devised in the second half against Leganes, Vinicius Jr led the restart in the first half to allow Isco to score in the first half.
Vinicius Jr was doing better in the second half going to the left wing
He then traded with Vazquez and started the second half on the left wing. He did not hesitate to show his sophisticated footwork before not finding his teammate with a center early in the game.
Vinicius attempted another try after a cut in the middle of half-time, then forced a save from Ivan Cuellar while bringing him back to Ceballos was a better option. A more animated screen then saw the attacker fail to get a shot after entering the Leganes box.
But for the post, Vinicius would have had a decisive pbad when woodworking prevented Brahim Diaz from scoring a first goal for Real late.
The tactical change highlighted Solari's desire to continue experimenting with Vinicius, who at age 18 is naturally a raw talent and clearly capable of playing beyond the offensive line.
Karim Benzema could well bear the pain against Sevilla after fracturing his finger against Betis. If Solari turned to Cristo Gonzalez, 21, after the departure of the Frenchman, there is every reason to believe that Vinicius will be deployed left Les Bernabeu Saturday with Marco Asensio and Gareth Bale injured.
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