Okay, so here we go: Real Madrid have won the league for an unprecedented 33rd time. This one is special; after all, they have won La Liga after five long years. So, congratulations are in order, it is time to party and party hard—and that is precisely what the players did at the Cibeles.
It’s fun to watch drunk players do nonsensical things that people would normally do after... well, being drunk. These are players who have dominated teams and controlled games over the course of the season but can now let go of all inhibitions to enjoy the occasion.
And hence began the “Pique, carbon, Saluda de Campeones!” chants. While Dani Carvajal was the one who instigated them, it was another player who led the uproar against the controversial Catalan figure—just like he led Real Madrid to glory.
No, this is not about Cristiano Ronaldo—a man whose Vito Corleone of Real Madrid impression is increasing by the day—or the ever-eccentric captain, Sergio Ramos. No, it was a much more fitting figure; someone whose influence in the season’s run-in was arguably more important than any other Real Madrid player.
Someone who made the difference between winning the league and getting beat to it to Barca.
Isco: The originator of divine love
This is getting out of hand now, isn’t it? That’s what Fransisco Roman Alarcon Suarez does to you—he makes you a want to be a poet, even if you have absolutely zero poetic sense. There is an aura about his playing style that makes the viewer fall in love with him.
And how could one describe love without being poetic?
The first half of the season was a pretty generic one for the Spaniard. Filling in the gaps for the first-team players, his performances on the pitch didn’t display the talent that he really possessed. However, in the second half of the season, he was divine.
It was as though he and the football were in love with each other and the chemistry between them was so good that they couldn’t let go of each other even in the toughest of situations. The testament to this lies in the fact that almost always, the defenders had to manhandle the former Malaga player in order to separate him from the ball.
Romeo-Juliet? Heer-Ranja? Nah. Isco and the football. This is the love that needs more glorification than it is getting now. While most of the lovers from tragic stories die after being separated from their loved ones, Isco’s caressing of the ball brings life to the souls of the fans.
Every now and then, he loses the ball. The villains of the world take it from him, but there he is hassling his way to get a hold of his beloved. In the few moments that they are together, they display such romance that the world stands on its feet.
The one match that perfectly encapsulates the bonding of the ball with Isco was the away encounter Sporting Gijon last month. He danced with the ball with so much grace that in comparison, the opposition players’ resulting dance seemed like an average drunk guy at a party moving his body to the music and with absolutely no idea about the purpose of his actions.
Almost all of his first touches in that game were as delicate as Poo from Kung Fu Panda catching a drop of water while mastering the art of inner peace. It was only fitting that he scored the winner in that game to come from behind and give Madrid the win and the fans some peace.
The performance was so transcendental that it prompted the commentator to yell, “There should be an exclamation point at the end of his name!”
Also read: Reports: Real Madrid agree to sell star player to Manchester City
The difference maker
And his brilliance wasn’t confined to that game alone as his influence in the second part of the season was perhaps the biggest reason for Madrid’s La Liga triumph. Fans laud Cristiano Ronaldo for the important goals that he has scored—by the way, Isco assisted all of Cristiano’s last four goals—but Isco’s genius in the middle is what gives the Blancos true cohesion.
When the former Valencia youngster plays, he binds Zidane’s system like no other. His presence on the pitch not only improves the forwards, but also the midfielders behind him, who sometimes lack the creative inspiration to link the play from deep.
Isco links the midfield to the forwards so effortlessly that he makes Madrid’s system a lot more cohesive than it really is. A lot of fans bemoan the lack of identity in Real Madrid’s playing style, but if the club has looked like finally getting somewhere on that front, it is with Isco playing.
The stats are in his favour too. The number 22 has 10 goals and 8 assists from only 18 league starts this season, but that’s not even the most impressive part Then what is? Here it is: The Galacticos have not lost a single league game in which Isco had some sort of participation.
Not one single game in La Liga.
It just goes to show the imprint he leaves on the games he played this season. After being on the fringes for most of the first half, he marauded his way back in with stellar performances every week. And in the end, it was this uncanny consistency that helped the Whites win the league after five long years.
It’s what made the three point difference against Barcelona. And God knows it could have been more had he started the Clasico at the Bernabeu.
Zidane rested Cristiano Ronaldo for a lot of games in La Liga during the run-in because he could; after all, he had a star to replace the star man.
Also read: La Liga 2016/17: Team of the season
