Isco has reflected on the difficulty Russia presented him and his Spanish Under-21 teammates in yesterday’s narrow 1-0 win.
Julen Lopetegui’s side picked up the three points in this Group B opening fixture at the UEFA Under-21 Championship in Israel, but only through a late goal from Alvaro Morata.
“The first game in a tournament is always important and it sets you up with regards to the next games so it's important to start on the front foot and that's what we've done,” Isco reflected afterwards to UEFA’s official website.
The Malaga attacking midfielder was noticeably man-marked in the opening stages of the match.
“They made it very difficult for us – they were man-marking us right across the pitch for almost the entire match and in the end it took a set-piece to win it.
“At the start, their pressing was really intense but then in the second half, I dropped back a bit on the left side and I felt more comfortable.”
