Real Madrid boss Santiago Solari insists dropping Isco was solely ‘a sporting decision’ after Tuesday’s 2-0 win at Roma without the midfielder.
“Dropping Isco was a specific decision for a specific moment. Coaches are in place to make decisions and that’s it,” the Coach said after the game, which ended with Los Blancos qualifying for the Champions League knockout stages.
“Decisions are almost always sporting, except in exceptional cases, although there are none of those here.
“Starters and substitutes are fictitious problems that don’t exist. The players are here to give everything and be at 100 percent so they can be picked.
“I would say that I preferred the seriousness in our play to the goals we scored. We worked hard and you almost always have to win by playing like we did.
“Games are 90 minutes long for a reason. Sometimes you have to be patient and we were tonight. Everyone showed a sense of responsibility. As for the turf, it was pretty bad.
“Playing Llorente was a decision I made and I’m here to make decisions. Sometimes we make the right ones, sometimes we don’t but it’s easy to say that after the game.
“I’m very happy with how he played. He’s very disciplined and he works very well. He’s a young man now and not a kid anymore. We’re all very happy for him.
“Vazquez’s performance was no surprise. He’s a hard-worker on the wings and tonight he scored. He did a spectacular job defensively.”
