Blancos coach Santiago Solari doesn’t favour the playmaker, but the problems run deeper and a summer exit looks likely

Real Madrid, despite being decimated by injuries and struggling for goals across the board since the departure of Cristiano Ronaldo, are showing no signs of reintroducing Isco to the starting XI under Santiago Solari – but why?

The situation is a complex one, especially given the lack of communication coming out of the Spain international’s camp, but Goal will attempt to explain.

Firstly, Solari is not a big fan of the four-time Champions League winner’s style of play. The Argentine coach prefers a 4-3-3 system without a recognised number 10 – the very position that the playmaker plays his finest football.

In addition, Isco has not been in his best form since Solari’s appointment (one only has to watch his performances to note that as fact), but is seemingly showing no interest in training sessions to rectify that situation.

Indeed, it is thought that Isco had counted on being given more game time to return to his best, but Solari has no intention of giving additional minutes to someone who seems not to be pushing personal limits to return to 100 per cent match fitness.

Instead, Solari prefers players with a good engine and willing to run themselves into the ground for the team. One must only look at Lucas Vazquez, Fede Valverde, Vinicius Jr. and even Brahim Diaz being picked ahead of him to recognise that.

So what chance does Isco have of regaining his spot in the starting XI? Well, he has been named on the bench several times, so there is nothing to suggest that he has been frozen out. It is more likely that his coach won’t place his trust in him until he returns to match fitness.

That’s all well and good, you might say, but how does he feel about Dani Ceballos, four years his junior, being introduced off the bench against Betis, with 15 minutes to go and Madrid needing a goal?

In general, the people in Isco’s camp are staying quiet, but one look at the player’s face during matches paints a picture of an unhappy and angry young man.

One friend of the 26-year-old did speak out via Instagram, however, stating: “Solari has the same idea of football as I do of engineering” before calling the Real boss a “murderer of football”.

Another large matter of note is the complete lack of public support from Isco’s team-mates – not a single member of the squad has defended him during his time in the wilderness. That could be a suggestion that the players are in agreement with the coach that Isco’s style simply doesn’t suit the club’s football.

And let’s not forget being booed by his own fans in Madrid’s clash with CSKA Moscow. Couple that with a lack of support from the club and it’s easy to imagine that a departure from the Santiago Bernabeu could be on the cards as soon as is feasible.

So is Isco’s Real Madrid career over? In short: yes. Certainly as long as Solari remains in charge and Isco is not at 100% fitness. Even if Madrid do appoint a new boss in the summer, however, the damage may already be irreversible.

What happens next? A January move is unlikely. Even with Castilla players being preferred ahead of Isco, the club are still in tatters with regards to injuries, and a player with such a high profile means negotiations will not be fast.

Although he has been linked with Manchester City in the past, Goal understands that a move to the Etihad will not be forthcoming as he does not fit into Pep Guardiola’s plans. Instead, reports suggesting Juventus as a potential destination are probably closer to reality.

For now, Isco’s seat on the bench is likely to stay warm until the summer at the earliest.

The former Chelsea goalkeeper has become the latest player in Santiago Solari’s squad to suffer an injury setback

Real Madrid have confirmed goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois is set for a spell on the sidelines after suffering an injury to the left iliac muscle.

The Belgium international has joined an increasingly long list of players in the treament room at the Santiago Bernabeu, with the likes of Marcos Llorente, Marco Asensio, Gareth Bale, Toni Kroos and Mariano Diaz also out of action at present.

It’s believed that Courtois’ injury will keep him out for around a fortnight, with Keylor Navas set to deputise for the Galacticos in his absence.

A Real Madrid statement read: “Following tests carried out on our player Thibaut Courtois today by the Real Madrid Medical Services, he has been diagnosed with a grade I injury in the left iliac muscle. His recovery will be monitored.”

Courtois completed the full 90 minutes in Real’s previous match, a 2-0 loss at home to Real Sociedad and he is also believed to have trained for the majority of this week in the build-up to his side’s Copa del Rey tie against Leganes on Wednesday.

Navas, who had been Real’s number one goalkeeper up until Courtois’ summer arrival, was expected to start their latest cup clash regardless, but the former Chelsea stopper is now likely to miss both legs of the tie, as well as the club’s upcoming league matches against Real Betis and Sevilla.

Santiago Solari’s side are in desperate need of some positive results after their defeat to Sociedad left them languishing in fifth place in La Liga and 10 points adrift of leaders Barcelona.

The 13-time Champions League winners have endured an extremely underwhelming season to date, having only won half of their 18 league matches so far and losing six.

Former Spain boss Julen Lopetegui was in charge at the beginning of the season, only to be sacked in late October after a poor start to the season.

The teenage sensation has been one of his side’s most productive stars and the coach is delighted to have him alongside Marco Reus and Paco Alcacer

Lucien Favre has been impressed by Jadon Sancho’s dribbling skills and says he has taken on a “crucial role at a very young age” at Borussia Dortmund.

The 18-year-old is one of Dortmund’s top players this season and has emerged as one of England’s most promising stars since he joined the German side from Manchester City in 2017.

Sancho has scored six goals and set up seven more in his last 17 Bundesliga appearances as Favre’s team sit top of the table, six points ahead of reigning champions Bayern Munich.

The Swiss coach has been impressed by the England international so far and is happy to have him in the team, comparing him to his former Borussia Monchengladbach star Raffael.

“He’s incredibly good but I also had Reus and Raffael. The fact that Raffael never played in the Brazilian national team is a scandal for me,” he told Bild. “But it’s true, Sancho is playing a crucial role at a very young age. He’s an incredible dribbler.”

Sancho is Dortmund’s third top scorer in the Bundesliga this season, with Paco Alcacer and Marco Reus on 12 and 11 goals respectively, much to Favre’s delight.

“I know Marco well from Gladbach and I must say he has always been sensational,” he said of the German winger. “He was able to put his mark on every match, especially when he plays in his favourite position in the middle. 

“He’s intelligent, he feels football. He does his job as captain very well. He’s discreet but he everyone on and off of the pitch. He’s outstanding.

He added of Alcacer: “[Thirteen goals] is incredible, I’ve never seen that before. When he comes on he almost always scores – his stats will be hard to beat. He doesn’t just score goals, he scores important ones. It’s an outstanding quota.”

Dortmund return to Bundesliga action on January 19 when they face RB Leipzig, who sit fourth in the table, while Bayern take on Hoffenheim.

The two don’t meet again until the spring when Bayern host Dortmund at the Allianz Arena on April 6, as the hosts look to gain a measure of revenge for their 3-2 loss in the reverse earlier this season.

The Washington Wizards’ point guard also says he prefers the Argentine superstar to the Portuguese hitman

NBA star Tomas Satoransky has labelled LeBron James as the “Cristiano Ronaldo of basketball” and compared Kobe Bryant to Lionel Messi.

The Washington Wizards point guard – who is in England for the NBA London Game 2019 against the New York Knicks – also revealed that he prefers Messi to Ronaldo having previously played for Barcelona’s basketball team earlier in his career.

“Am I Team Messi or Team Ronaldo? I’m Team Messi!,” Satoransky told Goal.

“If I had to name a ‘Messi of basketball’, it would be [former LA Lakers star] Kobe Bryant.

“I would probably call LeBron James more like a Cristiano Ronaldo because of how physically dominant he is.

“But I would say Messi is more like a Kobe Bryant.”

Satoransky, 27, played for Barcelona’s basketball team from 2014 to 2016, prior to joining the Wizards, and he shared a humorous story from that period regarding the Barca football side.

“We shared the same training centre with the football team but they were always quite hidden from us and from the media,” he explained.

“I remember the fans waiting for the Barcelona soccer players. We [the basketball players] would come along and the fans would be like: ‘We don’t want them!’ So they were waiting only for the soccer players.

“But it was like a real family there at Barcelona. Neymar and Pique are huge basketball fans. Pique was at a couple of games, too.”

Satoransky also commented on Wayne Rooney’s move to Washington DC to play for D.C. United.

The Czech giant expressed his hope that the NBA London Game can have the same positive impact on basketball in the UK as Rooney has had on soccer in the U.S.

“I always pay attention to footballers who come over from Europe and I followed the career of Wayne Rooney when he was in the Premier League, before he came to Washington,” he stated.

“It’s great for MLS and American soccer fans that they get to watch players like Rooney. It’s become more and more fashionable for such stars since David Beckham played for the LA Galaxy.

“[To help basketball grow] is why we have had an NBA game in London for so many years in a row. They love basketball in the UK and their league is developing well.

“The UK fans are great and when you see all the stars from the Premier League sitting courtside for the game, it’s clear it has a big impact. A lot of my friends from Europe are trying to come over to watch the game, too.”

The game between the Washington Wizards and the New York Knicks will take place at The 02 in London on Thursday evening.

Quade Cooper’s return as well as the prospect of a taking home the dreaded wooden spoon, has the Queensland Reds set to fire against the Force.

A loss would drop the Reds to the bottom of the Australian conference with only two games left to play after the Force clash.

“I’m not worried how we win it, just that we win it,” Reds coach Richard Graham said. “No one wants to win the wooden spoon, that’s something you want to avoid.”

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The Force have proven a bogey side for Queensland with just the one win in the last six meetings, although that victory did come in Round Two this year.

“We have got a clear way we want to play the game, it worked well for us in the second round. We need to be disciplined to that and Quade has been one of the key drivers in that this week.”

Jake McIntyre drops to the bench in place of Cooper, who has three games to show Wallabies coach Michael Cheika that he’s ready for a World Cup charge.

“The point of difference with Quade is he sees the game ahead one or two phases, he’s able to construct the attack to manipulate the defence. And his set of skills, he passes better than anyone in Super Rugby.”

Lachie Turner is the only other change to the starting side, with Chris Kuridrani out with a calf injury. Beau Robinson will feature off the bench for his first appearance of the season.

Rob Simmons has been named interim captain of the Reds, while James Slipper recovers from shoulder surgery.

Simmons served as sole vice-captain in 2015 and was the obvious candidate to lead the side in Slipper’s absence.

A number of potential successors have been touted in recent months but with Slipper’s shoulder rehabilitation ahead of schedule, the franchise opted for an interim solution in their vice-captain.

The Wallabies lock is one of the most experienced members of the Reds squad but this will be his first time captaining the side.Simmons said he was grateful for the opportunity to lead the Reds for the start of the 2016 season but that his focus was on the team.

“It’s an honour and a proud moment in my life. I’m grateful for the opportunity, but James is still our captain and I know he’ll be offering the team plenty of leadership and support from the sidelines,” he said.

“It’s not really about me, or James, it’s about the team and the culture we want to build here and that’s something everyone is contributing to.”

Slipper endorsed his deputy’s credentials, although he expressed his disappointment at missing the start of the season.

“It’s obviously disappointing that I won’t be out there at the start of the season, but not only myself but the whole team has a lot of confidence in Rob, he’s been at the Reds a long time and he has a genuine love for Queensland,” he said.

“He’s a well-grounded person and he knows the game well, it’s a great opportunity for him and right reward for the hard work he puts in on and off field.”

Reds coach Richard Graham said the decision was made with continuity in mind.

“James and Rob are two of our more experienced players, they’re respected by their peers and are incredibly passionate and committed to the Queensland cause,” he said.

“They’ve both experienced leadership roles here at the Reds and also at the Wallabies in the last 12 months, with James part of the formal leadership group at the World Cup and Rob leading the lineout.”

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rugby.com.au’s LIVE broadcast will commence at 6:45PM AEDT, with all the red carpet, player interviews and latest news from the event.

10:04pm

John Eales Medallist – Michael Hooper

9:54pm

Shawn Mackay Award – Men’s Sevens Player of the Year – Ed Jenkins

Ed Jenkins is the most-capped Australian Sevens player of all time and has topped the tally to win the men’s Sevens Player of the Year award.

9:48pm

Shawn Mackay Award – Women’s Sevens Player of the Year – Charlotte Caslick

Charlotte Caslick has capped a dream 2016 with the Shawn Mackay Award for Women’s Sevens Player of the Year

9:43pm

Women’s XVs Player of the Year – Ash Hewson

Wallaroos captain Ash Hewson has claimed the Women’s XVs Player of the Year. Hewson steered Sydney Uni to a second straight national championship this season and was a star in their recent two-Test series against New Zealand. The veteran of the side scored all their points against New Zealand in that series.

9:40pm

Wallabies Try of the Year – Drew Mitchell

Drew Mitchell wins the gong for his hand in Adam Ashley-Cooper’s try and takes the cake for best acceptance speech – popping a bottle of Dom Perignon!

9:30pm

Wallabies Rookie of the Year – Dane Haylett-Petty

Dane Haylett-Petty has played 10 Tests in his debut season, scoring two tries in that. He is the only Wallabies debutant to start every Test this season and has found his feet out of position on the wing. The 27-year-old had a few to beat too, with 11 2016 debutants. A late bloomer when it comes to Tests but looks to have made his mark.

9:20pm

We have a new leader!

Michael Hooper has taken the lead in the John Eales Medal but it’s Nick Frisby who is the MVP at this point, lighting up the rugby.com.au stream and letting the cat out of the bag about who injured Michael Cheika’s shoulder…It was star fullback Israel Folau!

9:12pm

Wallabies Player of the Year, Fan’s Choice – Michael Hooper

Michael Hooper has been voted as the fan’s player of the year. An omen for the awards to come?

9:08pm

Super Rugby Player of the Year – Sean McMahon

9:01pm

Super Rugby try of the Year – Nick Frisby

Nick Frisby played the major hand in Jake McIntyre’s epic Queensland Reds try. He was quick to pay tribute to one of his other nominees, Luke Morahan, who just missed out on the gong. Frisby’s optimistic about 2017 for the Reds.

8:51pm

Super Rugby Coach of the Year and team of the Year – Stephen Larkham/Brumbies

The Brumbies made the Super Rugby finals for the fourth time in as many years, with their Australian conference win nabbing them team of the year.

8:45pm

Super Rugby referee of the year – Angus Gardner

Angus Gardner will become the first Australian to referee four international matches in one season, winning his second award of the night, scooping the referee awards.

8:39pm

Super Rugby Rookie of the Year – Reece Hodge

Reece Hodge’s breakout season has been rewarded with the Rookie of the Year gong. He was a runaway winner of this one, in a year that helped him to Wallabies selection.

8:32pm

NRC Player of the Series- Irae Simone

Irae Simone lit up the NRC in 2016 and beat out fellow nominees Jake Gordon (NSW Country Eagles) and reigning winner Jono Lance. Simone’s award was the Shute Shield Rookie of the Year and has earned himself a 2017 Super Rugby contract.

8:15pm

Pocock leads the pack

8:03pm

Red Carpet pics

The Red Carpet pics are in! Take a look at some of the Wallabies and their partners.

7:51 pm

The first count 

We’re on to the first part of the big gong tonight, from Chicago to the World Cup final.David Pocock leads the pack after an epic Rugby World Cup. Here’s your top 10!

David Pocock – 140

Kurtley Beale – 103

Adam Ashley-Cooper- 101

Bernard Foley – 99

Sean McMahon – 92

Matt Giteau – 71

Tevita Kuridrani – 63

Michael Hooper – 60 

Drew Mitchell – 54

Sekope Kepu – 43

7:49pm

Honouring Classic Wallabies

A moment’s silence for the Wallabies who have passed away in the past year. Some of the greatest. 

7:43pm

Geoff ‘Bunter’ Shaw Community Coach of the Year Award – Kylie Dawson

Kylie Dawson has been recognised for her influence in the rugby community, nominated by her players for the award, beating out a nation of contenders. Dawson is from Tamworth and a former coach of Australian Sevens player John Porch. A rugby fan for most of her life, Dawson says she just loves to take her players on a journey. Clearly, she’s making an impact. 

7:35pm

Joe French Award – Alec Evans

Alec Evans honoured to receive the award and thanks his wife for putting up with his passion for rugby for the past 53 years. Pretty solid effort there!

7:32pm

Australian U20s Player of the Year – Tyrel Lomax

Bit of an awkward moment in this one – Lomax’s former coach Stephen Larkham presenting the U20s award to the front rower, who is moving up to the Rebels in 2017. Was immense in the U20s World Cup and will be a star to watch. Comes from a rugby league background but opted for the 15-man game, a choice that’s going well. Lomax says he’s settling well into Melbourne and rates his 2016 highlight as the U20s victory over New Zealand.

7:31pm

Nick Farr-Jones Spirit of Rugby Award – Megan and Anthony Elliott

7:21pm

Referee of the year – Angus Gardner

Angus Gardner has been one of the success stories of the Australian refereeing pathway, and this year officiated a number of internationals and major Super Rugby matches. Gardner has spoken of the difficulties of travel as an international referee, especially having just become a father.

7:14pm

HSBC Volunteer of the Year 

Congratulations to all three Volunteer of the Year award winners, who are keeping rugby ticking every day in their own backyards.

7:12pm

Hall of Fame – Peter Johnson

Peter Johnson played 42 Tests, five as captain over a 13 year international career, where he was recognised as an outstanding hooker.

Peter Johnson wore the green and gold jersey with pride on eight overseas tours. His team mates would tell people he never played a bad game, and was a credit to his country.

In his final test Johnson moved past Tony Miller to become Australia’s most capped player – it was an honour he held for 16 years.

7:11pm

Hall of Fame – John Solomon

John Solomon captained Australia in 8 of his 14 Tests, which he amassed during two tours to NZ and one to South Africa.

He was known as a resilient, scheming winger, inside centre or flyhalf and later became a successful coach. He was a veritable leader of men, and made an outstanding contribution to Australian rugby.

John Solomon’s achievements on the South African rugby tour in 1953 which included assisting a match-winning length of the field try, led to him being carried off the field by both Australian and South African players – something that’s unlikely to ever be repeated again!

7:08 pm

Hall of Fame – Jack Ford

Our first Hall of Fame inductee – John ‘Jack Ford. John “Jack” Ford played 11 tests for Australia and was the first Tasmanian to represent our country. This award for him comes in a special year for Tasmanian rugby – with born and bred Tasmanian Adam Coleman having made his Wallabies debut this year in the third Test of the England Series.

Jack Ford was a boarder at St. Joseph’s College in Sydney, which is where he learnt to play. Upon finishing school thanks to his flashing speed, immense strength and sheer size, he was virtually unstoppable.

in 1929,  he played for the first Australian team to win all internationals against New Zealand.

He retired in 1930, a winner in eight of his last nine Tests after Australia’s win over the 1930 British Lions.

7:04pm 

We’re underway at Randwick Racecourse. Greg Clark and Sandra Sully taking us away, ahead of the induction of our 2016 Hall of Fame inductees.

6:45pm 

We’re not too far away from the start of official proceedings here. We’ll have the red carpet images coming through soon.

Here are some pics of the contenders getting ready. 

The Rebels have their finals hopes exactly where they want them heading into a pivotal clash with the Brumbies, backrower Colby Fainga’a says.

Friday’s match will help decide the Australian conference winner, who will potentially be the country’s only Super Rugby finalist, and Fainga’a said they were pleased to have control over their own fate.

“It’s extremely important,” he said.

“We’re in a good position where we’ve got our own destiny in our own hands so it’s a good spot to be in and to have tough games coming up.

“If you want to be the best in the comp you’ve got to play the best.”

Fainga’a said there wasn’t a feeling that this match would end of their season if it turned out in a loss.

“There’s a still a few games to go,” he said.

“I don’t think this is the be all, end all for the squad if we don’t win this game but I know we’ve put a lot of effort into this weekend.

“Everyone’s done a lot of review and preview on these guys and what we’ve done well over the past few games, what we need to work on.

“We’re not putting all our eggs into the basket for this weekend, there’s still quite a few games to go in this season.”

As for his own personal battle in the back row, Fainga’a said the team wouldn’t be consumed by the threat of David Pocock.

We pride ourselves a lot on our breakdown as well so we know going into this weekend we know he’s there but I don’t think we’re going to change a whole lot,” he said.

“I think we’ve recognised he’s in the team, he’s obviously a world class player but we also need to stick to what we do well.”

The Rebels look likely to welcome some players back from injury for the clash, including gun back Mike Harris, who has missed eight weeks with a quad injury.

Fainga’a missed seven weeks with an elbow injury and said the Rebels’ list was being boosted at the right time.

“We’ve had quite an unlucky run throughout the start of the season,” he said.

“It’s good that at the back end of the season that’ where everyone’s trying to feed back into the team.

“It’s a pretty good spot to have (had) such an inconsistent team for the first half of the season (with) guys going in, guys coming out, getting injured.

“(It was) a disrupted start to the season and then to get a bit of consistency towards the back end of the season that’s where you want to be peaking.”

The Rebels host the Brumbies on Friday night, kicking off at 7:40pm AEST.

It brought Waratahs fans to their feet but NSW flyhalf Kurtley Beale says his try-saving tackle wasn’t that special.

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Beale stopped barnstorming Reds winger Chris Feauai-Sautia in his tracks, as the Reds looked certain to score and said he was as surprised as anyone with the way things unfolded.

“There’s a bit of talk about it at the moment but basically it was surprising,” he said.

“I think obviously he is a great finisher and I had to just try and stop him, put my body on the line and that’s exactly what I did,” he said.

“There was nothing special about it, I think my first intent was to try and push him to score in the corner.

“(I was) surprised that I actually got there in the end and I was able to put a tackle on him, I was pretty happy that I got him down.”

Beale flourished in the chief playmaking spot for the Waratahs against the Reds and said his confidence was growing in the 10, though he expects incumbent Bernard Foely to reclaim the starting flyhalf spot when he returns from injury.

“I know what I can do out there on the footy field and I’ve got that belief and I know I’ve got that belief from my teammates and that’s all that matters to me,” he said.

“Obviously the coaching staff have installed that belief and it was just a matter of me just going out there and just do the job and get the job done.

“I was very lucky to have some quality players around me to help me get my job done and obviously having a forward pack like we do at the moment it makes my job a lot easier when they’re laying a good platform up front.”

Beale’s combination with debutant David Horwitz worked well against the Reds’ fledgling inside backs but Beale admitted they would need to brace for a much different proposition against Aussie favourites, the Brumbies.

The 27-year-old was adamant the ACT franchise had earned the favourites tag, a label that has stuck even more firmly after a 52-10 romping of the Hurricanes.

“They are the talk of the Australian conference and I think also they’ve got all the experience, all the attacking threat,” he said.

“I think they played some of the best rugby in round one so we as a team have got to be aware of that so it’s going to be a huge challenge for us going in the game.”

A 2014 win over the Stormers sparked a championship run for the Waratahs but captain Michael Hooper says things are different in 2016.

Both sides have changed plenty since that clash and Hooper said they wouldn’t be dwelling too much on that victory as they head to Newlands this weekend.

“(We’ll take) nothing into this game,” he said.

“The guys who were a part of it know how hard it is and it is a good celebration to have.

“The odds are stacked against you but they’re a completely different team to then as are we so it’s going to be a new challenge.

“And for us (it’s) the first South African team of the year as opposed to playing pretty much  Aussies all bar the HIghlanders.

“It’s a new challenge and new style of footy we’re going to be faced with tomorrow night.”

What happened after that 2014 clash proved to be defining for the Waratahs and Hooper said they hoped it kick started something similar two seasons on.

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“It (that 2014 run) definitely is something to reflect on and think how you got yourself into that position and built confidence to be able to put out back-to-back performances each week,” he said.

“I mean, we haven’t won two games in a row yet. So for us going back-to-back against a tough team will be huge.

“It is a different squad to back then so and different coaching staff and all of that’s not excuses, but we’re trying to not reflect because that’s not going to be right for this squad.

“We’ve got to try and work out what’s right or we think we’re going to try and work out what’s right ot get back-to-back performances.”

The Waratahs have made just one change to their side to face the Stormers after a Western Force game that Hooper described as a “lightbulb moment” for the side.

“We saw that as a really good 80-minute performance chasing that from start to finish,” he said.

“It was a real lightbulb moment in that we really controlled the game really well. That was down to our nines, 10s, KB (Kurtley Beale) and sticking to the game plan for the duration.”

Dean Mumm is the only new face in the starting side from that Force side and Hooper said he was confident that would boost their backrow.

“Having Dean at six, he’s a really quality jumper who will do nothing but help our chances and bolster that contest up.”

The Waratahs take on the Stormers in Cape Town tomorrow morning at 3:15am AEST. See all the action live on Fox Sports 2.