Breakout Real Madrid gem set to face his sternest test yet tonight

Although things have stabilised to some extent now, the last few weeks have been quite difficult for Real Madrid. The Merengues did not start the season in a very encouraging fashion, but things turned really ugly as they lost to FC Barcelona and AC Milan in quick succession around a month ago.

Furthermore, injuries have had a significant toll on the team, and have particularly decimated the team’s backline. First, it was Dani Carvajal who suffered a serious injury, that will keep him out of action for the rest of the season.

With the Spaniard injured, Real Madrid were left without a cornerstone of their defensive setup, and Lucas Vazquez, a player who had started playing as a fullback only some years ago, was left as the only first-team player to play in this position.

But the alarm bells really started ringing at the Merengue club when Eder Militao suffered another ACL tear in the game against Osasuna. With the Brazilian out, Ancelotti only had Antonio Rudiger as his available centre-back, as Nacho had left at the end of the last season and David Alaba was still recovering from his own ACL tear.

In such a context, the youngster Raul Asencio took up the gauntlet, and with a reassuring performance against Osasuna, he provided some much-needed relief to the Real Madrid head coach.

The youngster was able to record an assist in his very first appearance with the first team and ended up playing 60 minutes in that game, in which he made 3 clearances and 1 tackle, and recorded a 93% passing success rate.

He then built upon this performance in the last game against Leganes, in which he played the full 90 minutes. In his first start in a Real Madrid shirt, the youngster made 4 clearances and 2 tackles, but his passing success rate dropped to 84% in that game.

In addition to these statistics, the defender also impressed with his calmness, maturity, and physical prowess. However, it needs to be kept in mind that both these sides, Osasuna and Leganes, were unable to put up a significant attacking challenge against the Los Blancos, and the Real Madrid midfield and defence remain rather comfortable in these games.

However, it will be a completely different story in the upcoming game against Liverpool in the UEFA Champions League. The Reds are sitting atop the Premier League and third in the UCL table, where they have a match in hand over the first-placed Inter Milan.

Thus, the Merseyside club will put up a significantly greater challenge to the Real Madrid defence in general, and to Raul Asencio in particular. The defender will have to showcase all his confidence to face attackers as dangerous as Darwin Nunez, Mohamed Salah, Luis Diaz, and Dominic Szoboszlai.

Hopefully, with Rudiger at his side and Courtois behind him, Asencio will be able to play his part in the titanic tie tonight. But there is no doubt that this is the biggest match in the young defender’s career up to now, and he will have to utilise all his skills to help his team get a much-needed victory in this game.