Isco's surgery leaves Julen Lopetegui, Real Madrid scrambling for answers at a difficult time

Real's next two opponents, Sevilla and Atletico Madrid, are hardly welcome guests. Madrid have been beaten on their past three visits t...

Real's next two opponents, Sevilla and Atletico Madrid, are hardly welcome guests. Madrid have been beaten on their past three visits to the Sanchez Pizjuan, and Atletico's 14 years of hurt were shown the door shortly after Diego Simeone's arrival.

It's too early to talk of season-defining games, but dropped points while Barca face Leganes away and Athletic at home will ask questions of Lopetegui's craft if he cannot remedy the absence of his artful dodger.

The Real boss has exercised a level of conservatism -- at odds with his Spain career -- since his arrival at the Bernabeu, but it is no coincidence that those who served him so well during that time are enjoying greater exposure. Dani Ceballos is a natural fit to come into the midfield but scarcely a like-for-like Isco substitute. Alvaro Odriozola will start against Sevilla in another enforced change, and the inclusion of Nacho for Marcelo against Espanyol was not a high-risk strategy. Of Real's summer signings, only the former Sociedad full-back and Mariano have made it onto the pitch.