During a contested aerial ball in the attacking third, Isco and Gabi jumped at the same time, but the Atletico captain made a subtle movement from behind and knocked Isco off balance, sending him straight to the ground.
The Málaga native struggled to get back up, reached behind his head, scratched the spot that had been hit, gasped for breath, and quickly ran back.
He had to get back into position at once and prepare to deal with Atletico's attack.
This was his third season since joining Real Madrid.
He would soon turn twenty-four.
If Isco were to divide his life into stages, then there was no doubt that everything before he turned twenty-one had been dazzling.
From childhood, he had been the brightest of his peers. He had burst onto the scene at a nationwide invitational tournament, joined Valencia's Youth Training Camp, and then skipped grades repeatedly until he reached the First Team. He had been only eighteen at the time, with a future as bright as the sun.
At nineteen, his hometown club Málaga had placed great hopes in him. The entire team began building its tactics around him, and Isco rose to fame in one stroke. In just two years, he had not only become a renowned Golden Boy in European Football, but had also led the obscure Málaga into the Champions League quarterfinals. Isco's own value had soared as well.
At twenty-one, he arrived at star-studded Real Madrid surrounded by dazzling glory.
After that, the course of his life changed.
He had left the southern fishing port of Málaga for Madrid, Spain's most international metropolis, and traded the obscure Málaga for the giants of Real Madrid. Isco experienced circumstances completely different from those at a small club.
At Málaga, he had been the core of