"I am the only one responsible for my failure at Madrid"

Manuel Pellegrini was once again the lifeline of Francisco Roman Alarcon Suarez, better known to the world as Isco. When he had no opportunities at Valencia, he signed him at Malaga and he played in the Champions League.

After hitting rock bottom at Madrid and Sevilla, the Chilean turned him into the stars of one of the best Real Betis sides in history.

The mentality of the Adalusian midfielder, originally from Arroyo de la Miel (Benalmadena), has changed a lot in the last two years. "My main goal is that it is me who retires from football and not football who retires me. Now I am living one of the best moments of my career. I feel very loved at Betis, by my team-mates and by the fans," he said in an interview for the magazine 'France Football'.

When he left Real Madrid he was at his lowest point. He didn't see it that way then, but now he accepts his share of the blame: "Some coaches appreciate you more than others, that's football. After a while, everything was more complicated for me in Madrid. When you are not mentally well, it shows in your game. I was going through a bad patch in my sporting and personal life and I didn't know how to recover. The only one responsible for my failure is me.