Real Madrid began this season with arguably one of the best squads in Europe. But the men in white got off to a rather quiet start.
Until October, they had 23 points in 11 matches, with just 1 loss – which was the thrashing handed by FC Barcelona.
There were glaring defensive issues and to make matters worse, on match day 13 against Osasuna Eder Militao suffered yet another ACL injury in the 30th minute and was stretchered off the pitch.
On any other day, Carlo Ancelotti would have chosen Aurelien Tchouaméni to replace Militao but even the Frenchman was injured. With no options left, the Italian manager brought on Raul Asencio to partner up with Antonio Rüdiger.
It took the youngster just 12 minutes to create an impact as he assisted Jude Bellingham in the 42nd minute and went on to end the match with a clean sheet.
Since then, he has put on rock-solid performances whenever the opportunity arose – even as a substitute – and when Rüdiger got injured in February, the 21-year-old was guaranteed to be a starter.
Perhaps if the German was not injured, Asencio would not have started the Madrid derby but he was paired with Tchouameni and was flawless throughout the end.
It was a commandeering display, and even at such a young age, the Spaniard looked like the leader at the back. Other than the penalty he scored, Julian Alvarez was kept quiet throughout the game and it was mainly due to Raul Asencio.
According to Sofascore statistics, Asencio completed 49/51 passes. He won all his duels (5/5), made 3 clearances, and 2 tackles, and put in 3/3 accurate long balls.
To show what a force to reckon with he was on the night, no Atletico Madrid player was able to dribble past him on the night and he made sure to make their lives difficult. Now this was a performance former Real Madrid and Spanish legend Sergio Ramos would be proud of.
Next up, Asencio will perhaps be involved in the biggest game of his career – in the Champions League playoff against Manchester City.
It will certainly be a challenge for the youngster, coming up against arguably the best striker in Europe in the past few seasons, Erling Haaland, who has scored 25 goals in 33 matches this season.
Real Madrid will need to be defensively compact and solid, with the helm of their defense resting on the young shoulders of Asencio, who has already shown in a short span that he thrives under pressure.
