There’s only one big talking point around the Real Madrid camp this week as Zinedine Zidane’s newly-crowned La Liga champions prepare to face Juventus in the Champions League Final: should Gareth Bale start, or Isco?
Bale has been out of action for six weeks since suffering a calf strain in the Clasico loss to Barcelona, but has now returned to training and is understandably desperate to start in Saturday’s showpiece, which just happens to be in his hometown of Cardiff.
However, the Welshman’s place has been filled in recent weeks by Isco, who was arguably their best player during their successful title run-in, also scoring the crucial goal in the semi-final second leg against Atletico.
Predictably, the subject was the major bone of contention as Zidane addressed the media on Tuesday; equally predictably, and perfectly understandably, the coach was giving nothing away.
Or did he? Zidane’s revelation that he has already made his decision could well be interpreted as a sign that he has plumped for Isco. If he was intending to start Bale, you’d think he would at least want to see him take part in a full week of training before his final decision.
That would be the logical conclusion, but logic rarely reigns at the Bernabeu and the situation is complicated by the fact that Bale has been a favoured son of all-powerful president Florentino Perez ever since he broke the world transfer record to recruit him from Tottenham in 2013.
Bale: "Isco has been PLAYING WONDERFULLY these last few weeks ... everything depends on Zidane"pic.twitter.com/sFgfqjGeFx
— RMadrid Edition (@RMadridEdition) May 30, 2017
That pressure notwithstanding, however, Zidane will surely also take into account that recalling Bale wouldn’t just mean leaving out Isco – it would also mean changing the system which has been so successful.
Zidane has now more or less abandoned the 4-3-3 formation he employed for the majority of his first year in charge, instead preferring a 4-4-2 shape which features a flexible but narrow winger-less midfield diamond, with the width instead provided by the full-backs.
There is quite simply no natural place for a winger like Bale in that formation.
He could be selected as a centre forward instead of Karim Benzema, or at the tip of the midfield diamond in place of Isco, but neither of those positions really suit his strengths and would also risk destabilising the whole team.
Bale, of course, is an excellent player and certainly capable of playing a big role in this Madrid team – specifically, he is arguably their best crosser of a ball, and along with Cristiano Ronaldo also the best at attacking crosses.
But whether he should start a Champions League final after a lengthy spell without kicking a competitive ball is entirely another matter.
If you depersonalise the scenario by taking out the names, the situation becomes extremely clear: Simply put, Zidane has to choose between two players.
One of them is in outstanding form, contributing significantly to some important victories, while the other has just returned from a six-week injury absence and was not playing particularly well before then.
When viewed in that context, isn’t the answer to this supposed conundrum exceedingly obvious? And that’s not all, because Isco and Bale are by no means the only players available to support Benzema and Ronaldo in attack.
Indeed, Zidane is fortunate enough to call upon arguably the greatest depth of attacking talent in world football, with James Rodriguez, Alvaro Morata, Marco Asensio and Lucas Vazquez all desperate to play and in good shape.
The ongoing rise of Asensio, in particular, provides a very tempting option.
As he showed with his brilliant solo effort against Bayern Munich in the quarter-final, the young Spanish international’s ball skills make him a genuine impact player, and perhaps the man most likely to change the flow of the game from the bench if required.
Most decisions are only as complicated as you make them, and if politics are pushed aside the decision facing Zidane is quite simple.
Isco must start, while Bale can only hope he has an opportunity to contribute from the bench – and even that is by no means certain.
