(Football news) Real Madrid on Sunday lost 1-0 to Atletico Madrid at the Wanda Metropolitano. The La Liga title was already secured and Real Madrid had just played 120 minutes against Manchester City on Wednesday, therefore Carlo Ancelotti heavily rotated the side. The loss didn't matter that much but what is interesting is the performance of Marco Asensio which was once again extremely underwhelming.
Asensio caught Real Madrid's eye at the age of 18 when he was at Mallorca. Los Blancos signed him for €3.9 million and loaned him back to Mallorca. After a season on loan at Espanyol, Asensio came to Real Madrid. The Spaniard had an absolutely amazing first season at the club. He scored on his official Real Madrid debut, La Liga debut, UCL debut, Copa del Rey debut and Spanish Super Cup debut. He scored goals against Sevilla, Barcelona, Bayern Munich and Juventus. In his 2nd season he dipped in form a little bit but his performances were still good. He proved to be clutch in UCL knockout games against PSG and Bayern Munich as Madrid lifted their 3rd consecutive UCL.
In 2018/19 Real Madrid went trophyless and Marco Asensio, just like every other player, had a difficult campaign. The next season under Zidane, Asensio was set to be the first choice right winger but unfortunately for him he tore his ACL. The Spaniard missed most of the season but scored with his first touch on his return. He ended up scoring 2 more goals as Real Madrid lifted the La Liga. Next season is when Asensio's impact was considerably less as it seemed that he had lost a lot of speed and he could only manage 7 goals and 2 assists in the entire season.
In the current 2021/22 season, Asensio was out of favour at the start but Carlo Ancelotti changed his position and started to deploy him in midfield. He even scored a hat-trick against Mallorca in his new position but later due to competition in midfield and lack of right wingers he was once again deployed to the wing. Asensio was first choice for a long time but his performances weren't too impressive. He has scored 12 goals this season and most of them have been screamers from long range. His performances are underwhelming which isn't a good sign. There are rumours about a potential contract extension but it is clear that even if Asensio stays at Real Madrid he will be a bench player.
The situation is very similar to that of Jese who was considered to be the best player to come out of the Real Madrid academy that produced Iker Casillas and Raul. Club president Florentino Perez described him as the jewel in the crown of Los Blancos' academy but Jese had to wait a long time to break into the first team and when he did, he had an instant impact. Things went downhill when just like Asensio, Jese tore his ACL in a UCL game against Schalke in 2014. After recovering from his injury the Spaniard stayed at the club for another 3 seasons but had clearly lost his pace. Now at the age of 29, Jese has played for 5 different clubs and hasn't been particularly impressive.
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