Isco: Real Madrid won’t cry over Ronaldo – he didn’t want to be here!
The Spain international has also defended head coach Julen Lopetegui, saying it would be “crazy” for him to be sacked after just two months in charge
Isco insists that Real Madrid are refusing to lament Cristiano Ronaldo’s sale to Juventus, querying why they would miss a player who no longer wanted to represent the Blancos.
Five-time Ballon d’Or winner Ronaldo moved to the Serie A champions for €112m (£99m/€129m), including bonuses, during the summer and has left a void that Madrid have struggled to fill.
Indeed, Julen Lopetegui’s side came within a whisker of breaking the club scoring record for minutes without a goal as they crashed to a 2-1 loss to Levante on Saturday, with left-back Marcelo saving their blushes in that regard .
Isco, however, is stoic in the face of such adversity, which has seen them go five matches without a win ahead of Tuesday’s Champions League meeting with Viktoria Plzen.
“We can’t be crying for someone who didn’t want to be here,” he told the media.
Meanwhile, the Spain international has branded the pressure that has built on head coach Lopetegui after just a couple of months in charge as “crazy”, despite Madrid sitting in seventh ahead of Sunday’s Clasico clash with Barcelona, their lowest league position after nine games for 17 years .
“The press do not have the power to get rid of a Madrid coach. We believe fully in what this team can achieve, and the coach has full confidence of the players. After that, many things can happen, but I am convinced we can have a very good season,” he said.
“I think it would be crazy, you have to let him work. He has only been here for two months. If you get rid of the coach, you have to get rid of all of us. It is us that haven’t been scoring goals or playing well. It belongs to all of us, not just the coach.”
Isco made his return from a bout of appendicitis at the weekend as he managed an hour against Levante in Madrid’s ill-fated outing.
He will aim to feature against Plzen on Tuesday, with the pressure on the three-time defending European champions to produce a positive result after slumping to a shock 1-0 loss away to CSKA Moscow in their last outing.
However, a 3-0 win over Roma in their opening group-stage match, in which Isco netted, has given them some insurance.
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