(Football news) Real Madrid ran riot against Mallorca as they won 6-1. Los Blancos now sit on top of the table and remain unbeaten. Carlo Ancelotti has already worked his magic on the squad and Real Madrid are back playing attacking football. Real Madrid have scored 22 goals in 7 matches which is the highest a Real Madrid side has scored at this stage since the 1987/88 season.
The Italian manager is renowned for bringing the best out of 'No.10' midfielders. Ricardo Kaka, Zinedine Zidane, James Rodriguez and Angel Di Maria are prime examples. Ancelotti publicly stated that he was going to change Marco Asensio from a winger to an attacking midfielder just like he did with Di Maria.
When Ancelotti first took charge of Real Madrid in 2013 he straight away changed Di Maria into a midfielder. The decision worked wonders as Di Maria had one of the most prolific seasons of his career. The Argentine scored 11 and assisted 25 goals in all competitions that season winning the award for most assists in La Liga.
Asensio and Di Maria are very similar players. Left footed, good passers of the ball, great close control, adequate pace but not rapid and long range shooting ability. Asensio made his first start of the season against Mallorca playing in a 3 man midfield with Fede Valverde and Eduardo Camavinga who are both box to box players.
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Asensio had a few substitute appearances but none of them were impactful as such. Against Mallorca, the Spaniard had a brilliant game where he scored a hat-trick. Playing on the right of the midfield 3 Asensio played between the lines and exploited the gaps in the Mallorca defence.
Marco Asensio scored on every single Real Madrid debut after he was signed in 2017. He was supposed to be the next best thing at the Spanish capital. An ACL tear in the 2019 pre-season sidelined him for almost a year. In his comeback game against Valencia in June 2020, Asensio scored with his first touch of the game, but it has all been downhill ever since.
After ACL surgery, Asensio as expected lost quite a bit of pace and acceleration which meant that he always struggled on the wing. His best ability is to hit from distance which he was struggling to do in Zinedine Zidane's wide winger system. Playing in midfield now will allow him to shoot more often and play between the lines.
Ancelotti has more or less revived Asensio's career. Still 25 years of age Asensio has a lot of potential and if the Spaniard manages to stay fit then he could reach incredible heights.
