Ex-Real Madrid superstar Isco has revealed why Zinedine Zidane stopped playing him during his second spell as Los Blancos manager.
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Once considered among Spain's most important players, at 31 years old, Isco has found himself without a club after his departure from Sevilla in December last year.
The attacking midfielder played regularly under Zidane during the Frenchman's first spell as manager of the Spanish giants between 2016 and 2018, but struggled for minutes the second time around, particularly after the pandemic forced football to stop.
In a recent interview with Marca, Isco admitted he failed to put in the hours at home to return in good shape, leading to his role becoming drastically reduced.
"Zidane arrived in the last third of the season and I wasn't feeling fine, to be honest," he said.
"It was a tough year for me, I was down. The next season I didn't play much at first but I ended up getting some minutes in important games, I was slowly getting back to form and then the pandemic hit the world.
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"After the pandemic, I stopped playing and I have to admit that it was my fault because I didn't work hard enough while we were at home."
Isco also explained how he was treated at the club during Santiago Solari's stint on the sidelines, claiming that nobody communicated to him why he lost his importance to the side.
"Isco just didn't exist for anyone within the club after Solari was appointed. Nobody talked to me and nobody explained why I stopped getting minutes all of a sudden," he added.
"When I asked Solari, he told me that nothing happened and that it was just a technical decision, but he was leaving me out of the squad lists. I should have left Real Madrid sooner but it's not easy to leave the world's biggest club because I always found ways to earn some minutes."
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Isco represented the 14-time UEFA Champions League winners on 353 occasions, contributing to 110 goals across all competitions.
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