Isco showed why his Real Madrid team-mates call him 'Magic' in win over Manchester United... and now he can replace Andres Iniesta for Spain

• e-mail

The good news for Spain is that there is a new Andres Iniesta. The bad news for Barcelona is that he plays for Real Madrid.

Isco did it again on Tuesday night in Skopje. Just as the game around him was descending into a war of attrition he was able to lift the tone, playing an intelligent one-two with Gareth Bale and sliding the ball just beyond David de Gea. 

Another trophy for Zinedine Zidane – the sixth since he took over in January 2016, and another man-of-the-match performance from Isco.

Isco poses with the Super Cup after starring in his side's 2-1 win over Manchester United

The 25-year-old slots the ball past compatriot David de Gea during the European encounter

Isco poses with his man of the match award after stealing the headlines in Macedonia

No wonder the French manager – whose pirouettes on the ball were much like Isco's now – is anxious for his playmaker to sign an new deal. 

'He's an artist,' he said in Macedonia on Tuesday. 'He gets better and better and the goal was something only he knows how to do,' he added.

Isco is the reason why Zidane plans to stick with 4-4-2 this season even though it will mean he has an even tougher job of keeping everyone happy – one of Bale, Cristiano Ronaldo and Karim Benzema will have to miss out to accommodate that Casemiro, Kroos, Modric and Isco midfield.

There will be no argument coming from the Real Madrid supporters who worship the kid from Malaga because he's one of their own. 

Like them he grew up playing in the town square, like them he watched in wide-eyed wonder as Luis Aragones' team won the Euros back in 2008, 10 years on from that, next summer, he will be one of the most important players as they try to win the World Cup in Russia.

If Iniesta's legs don't take him all the way to his fourth finals then Isco will pick up the baton. 

He will be the player trying to pick the locks on opposition defences; trying to play the pass through the almost non-existent gap; or scoring from distance – the last resort of the passing team whose passing just can't get them past a stubborn opponent's defence.

They call him 'Magia', which translates to 'Magic' in the Real Madrid dressing room. That is some nickname to carry off when you are in the constant company of Zidane, Ronaldo, Modric, Kroos and Co. 

But he does carry it off and every time he performs in the big games it serves as a reminder that Premier League clubs tracked him when he was at Malaga but decided that those short bandy legs would never carry him around the Premier League pitches quickly enough. 

Manchester City came closest to signing him back when Manuel Pellegrini was their manager but they missed out when Real Madrid came calling paying £27million for him in 2013. 

Isco has named one of his dogs 'Messi' but he is proving to be a key player for Barca's key rival

The Spanish midfielder will be hoping to dislodge Andres Iniesta ahead of the 2018 World Cup

Some believed having named his beloved Labrador 'Messi' he was destined to end up at Barcelona. In the end he became just another Barca-style player that Barcelona have missed out on.

Some at Madrid wished he had signed for the other side after his first season. He struggled to really impose himself on matches. He was indulged by supporters who can favour one piece of breaktaking skill – especially if it has come from a Spanish player – over a series of more practical contributions.

He was still being criticised as late as last year with former Madrid defender Ivan Helguera saying: 'He doesn't give assists, he's not good in the air, he doesn't win the ball back. He could offer much more. What do his pieces of skill end up as?'

It was a fair point then but no one can question the end product any more. It has served up Real Madrid's first trophy of the season. And it will be Spain best chance next summer of making an impact in Russia, especially if they are missing the mercurial Iniesta. 

Isco will insure the magic remains.