Open Thread: November 11th, 2021

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International Break - Madridista Match Schedule

12 of our players are involved in games this international break, all to do with the qualifiers for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, with the exception of Camavinga, who is part of the France U-21 squad.

Here is the fixture list:

Carvajal - Greece v Spain (Thursday 11, 8:45pm CET), Spain v Sweden (Sunday 14, 8:45pm)

Benzema - France v Kazakhstan (Saturday 13, 8:45pm), Finland v France (Tuesday 16, 8:45pm)

Modric - Malta v Croatia (Thursday 11, 8:45pm), Croatia v Russia (Sunday 14, 3pm)

Bale - Wales v Belarus (Saturday 13, 8:45pm), Wales v Belgium (Tuesday 16, 8:45pm)

Courtois and Hazard - Belgium v Estonia (Saturday 13, 8:45pm), Wales v Belgium (Tuesday 16, 8:45pm)

Alaba - Austria v Israel (Friday 12, 8:45pm), Austria v Moldova (Monday 15, 8:45pm)

Jovic - Serbia v Qatar (Thursday 11, 6pm), Portugal v Serbia (Sunday 14, 8:45pm)

Casemiro, Militão and Vini Jr - Brazil v Colombia (Friday 12, 1:30am), Argentina v Brazil (Wednesday 17, 0:30pm)

Camavinga - France U-21 v Armenia U-21 (Thursday 11, 8:45pm), North Macedonia U-21 v France U-21 (Tuesday 16, 6:30pm)

Isco’s time is up.

The return of Ancelotti was supposed to be a lightning rod for Isco to revive his career at Real Madrid after he shone so brightly during the Italian’s first spell in charge, but despite starting two of the first three league games this season, he soon fell out of favour. The coach made a concerted effort to praise Isco during Real Madrid’s pre-season, highlighting the 29-year-old’s attitude, but just a few months into this campaign he has found himself towards the bottom of the pecking order in midfield with only Ceballos behind him.

Since the 0-0 draw against Villarreal on September 25, Isco has not played for Real Madrid. What’s more, Isco has not played a single minute in the Champions League this season. Injuries have not helped his cause either. With his deal at Real Madrid expiring on June 30, 2022, he will be free to talk to other clubs about signing a pre-contract agreement from January 1, 2022.

Good to see these kids back.

All signs point to Rodrygo and Valverde being available after the international break so lets keep our fingers crossed. The rest of the non internationals continued training at Valdebebas.