Real Madrid walked on the wire against Granada at the Bernabéu, could stumble and drop two points, even three if it weren’t for Courtois in the first halfrepeating a script that has been seen too many times this year: modest teams that organize themselves in defense and close all the roads to a Madrid that, in addition, against Granada missed Benzema and Vinicius, its two main gunners, with 24 and 15 goals respectively. Good luck for the Whites and good luck for Ancelotti who appeared third on the top scorers podium: Marco Asensio.
The Spaniard came to the duel with seven goals, five of them in LaLiga. His were the two best chances for Madrid in the first half, two shots cleared by Maximiano; He was also in the thick of the own goal that Granada almost scored, trying to clear a center from Carvajal for Asensio. In the second half, with the general improvement for White, they found more spaces in the front to do damage and ended up putting together their most incisive game of the season: seven shots, six of them on goal, more than half of those of the entire team (11).
His best precedent to date was Mallorca’s visit to the Barnabéu, back in September, the day he played as an improvised inside midfielder and, from there, he scored a hat-trick finishing off five times, all five between the sticks. With his wonderful punch, what Ancelotti asks of him are duels like this, in which he releases his left foot at the slightest opportunity. Against Athletic in the Cup, in 90 minutes, he did not try the shot once. It also happened in 45 minutes against Getafe (1-0 loss), in 69′ against Osasuna (0-0 at the Bernabéu) and in 81′ against Villarreal (also 0-0 at home).
That shyness in his game has generated some doubts among the social mass about the performance of the Balearic; against Granada he showed his most cheeky facein the shot and also from the gesture: he started to ask the stands for encouragement during the second half, with Madrid increasingly effervescent in attack, and with the goal he released tension in jets during his celebration, in which he had plenty even the t-shirt. There are eight goals in 1,225 minutes, thanks to his 36 shots, 26 of which were between the three posts. This course averages 2.6 shots every 90 minutes; Everything that brings him closer to his numbers against Granada will also bring him closer to guaranteeing himself a place in the starting eleven.
Asensio, during Real Madrid-Granada.
JESUS ALVAREZ ORIHUELA
In that section, Asensio plays with a certain advantage, since the far right is, without a doubt, the position most open to internal competition for the white team. Rodrygo and the Balearic have been sharing the minutes during the course and Ancelotti himself has already explained that their different profiles enter or leave depending on the characteristics of each match: the Brazilian is more electric and has an idyll with the Champions League, Asensio moves better in long possessions, his hitting is unbeatable and he is also a more constant scorer. And with those goals, Asensio is winning the battle: Rodrygo barely adds two goals in 1,339 minutes; The ex-Santos player has much more goals (six assists, one for the Balearic), but it is difficult for him to be decisive.
Asensio, Madrid and the summer of 2023
Ancelotti is giving in to the evidence while he breathes a sigh of relief thanks to the three points saved by Asensio, with which he distances Sevilla to six, taking advantage of the prick from Seville in Pamplona. “Mark lor is doing very well. He has scored many goals, he has commitment and quality. He is doing well since the beginning of the season. It is very important for us, today we won the game thanks to his best quality, which is his shot. He has come back from a season of injuries with confidence and I don’t need to tell him that he has to shoot, he knows it very well”, commented the coach.
And all this, at the gates of a summer that is going to be decisive for the Asensio-Real Madrid pairing. The Spaniard’s contract with the white club ends in June 2023, so he will enter his last year of contract; in these circumstances, the club is usually exhaustive to inform the players that they must renew or be transferred. The relationship between the player, his agents and the club has always worked like clockwork and Madrid do not expect anything different from now on. Already last summer up to four important clubs came interested in his loan, but Ancelotti blocked that option because he wanted him in the squad. With the Italian on the bench, Asensio knows that the opportunities will come. And with games like the one he played against Granada, even more so.