Marcelo captained Real Madrid's highly rotated side in the 3-0 loss to CSKA Moscow on Wednesday's night. The defender wasn't at his usual level, made several mistakes which eventually led to two out of three goals from the Russians. Eventually, he was taken off in the 75th minute, right after CSKA's final goal of the game.
When he was going off the pitch, he handed his captain's armband towards Isco, however, the midfielder surprisingly refused to take it. The Brazilian had to give it to the fellow defender Dani Carvajal who replaced him.
Marcelo recalls this incident in the post-match interview, as quoted by Diario AS: "I tried to give the armband to Isco [when I came off for Dani Carvajal]. But he told me that I had to give it to Carvajal. I don't know what the reason for that was."
He also addresses Isco's alleged conflict with the Santiago Bernabeu faithful as the midfielder was booed by the fans after missing out on a perfect opportunity to pull one goal back early in the second half. Marcelo says: "I didn't see Isco's reaction but I don't think it was against the fans. We're here to give our all for this club. We're really hurting, but all we can do is recover and focus on the weekend."
Marca, meanwhile, provide their own explanation behind Isco's captain armband snub. They claim the midfielder allegedly promised he would let Carvajal take it. Last week against Melilla it was Isco who was named the captain at the expense of the defender so the 26-year-old porbably wanted to return the favour.
