Twelve months ago, Isco was about to be released. The former Real Madrid playmaker was enduring a miserable spell at Sevilla, and after allegedly getting into a physical fight with then-football director Monchi in the club offices, his time at the Ramon Sanchez-Pizjuan was always going to come to an end.
It marked a low point for a player once considered one of the world's best creative midfielders, and a fulcrum of a number of Champions League-winning Madrid sides. Indeed, the same man who led Los Blancos to their 2017 European crown was out of a job.
But now, things have changed. After over half a year without a club, Isco has worked his way back. He spurned two offers from overseas to stay in La Liga, joining Sevilla's city rivals, and reviving a career that once seemed to be breaking down. These days, he's a reborn star at Real Betis, a high-calibre creative threat, who is leading a rejuvenated Betis side's push for European football — and he will hope to snatch an unlikely result against his former employers on Saturday.