Real Madrid’s poor run of form continued after a 4-0 thrashing against archrivals Atletico Madrid.
This left the club with several questions about the team spirit especially after reports surfaced that some of the players were unhappy with the way Cristiano Ronaldo celebrated his birthday party just after this defeat. Midfielder Isco, though, says that there is no truth in the rumours and that the team is united as ever. The club’s lead at the top of the table has been cut to just one point from Barcelona. This is almost an insignificant advantage given the number of games left to play.
After struggling to establish himself in his early time at Madrid, Isco has been showing a lot of maturity of late. The 22-year-old has already played in 26 matches for the club this season. More importantly, he has been concentrating more on assists rather than scoring goals himself. Either way, he has contributed 12 goals directly or indirectly so far. This is seen as a healthy contribution especially given that Cristiano Ronaldo and Karim Benzema score much of the goals. Madrid will be looking to recover from this setback when they take on Schalke in the Champions League knockout stages.
Roberto di Matteo’s Schalke are fourth in the Bundesliga with just two wins in the last five.”It was down to sporting reasons. It was difficult after the rout last week.What the press are saying isn’t true: the unity in the dressing room is magnificent. After the drubbing it’s been good to fix things with a dose of humility and this team knows how to come back from tough situations.Together we’ll move forward with more strength than ever. Indeed, I think the team has to keep growing in confidence for what’s coming up,” said Isco after the game.