One Real Madrid player who has benefited from the play stoppage
By Ben Sundock
Real Madrid forward Marco Asensio has not played a single competitive match this season and has been rehabbing from a serious knee injury suffered during the preseason. He is one of the few players who is benefitting from play being suspended.
Marco Asensio is going on 263 days since he was last included in a Real Madrid matchday squad. The promising forward suffered a devastating ruptured anterior cruciate ligament injury in the preseason match against Arsenal during the Intercontinental Champions Cup and has been working his way back to full fitness since.
Before La Liga and Champions League matches were suspended due to the spread of the coronavirus pandemic, Asensio was starting to participate in Zinedine Zidane‘s training sessions and the Los Blancos’ boss was expecting to have the Spaniard back right around this time.
Now, Marco has the luxury of even more time to make sure that he is 100 percent ready to rejoin the squad. The injury is one that cannot be taken lightly since players rely so heavily on lateral movement and reinjuring his knee could be career-threatening.
While Real Madrid was in solid hands with Eden Hazard healthy and Rodrygo Goes backed up by Lucas Vazquez, once Hazard went down, it was all on Vinicius Junior to pick up the slack.
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Asensio’s ability to help the offense push forward and contribute with threatening runs was lost with Hazard out. In an ideal world, Zizou will start Hazard on the left, Karim Benzema as the striker – assuming he finds his form – and Marco Asensio on the right-wing.
Zidane is anxious to get the number 20 back into the mix, however, he knows not to rush anything even after a delay that could see play halted for a month or more.
Asensio has been one of the most impressive youngsters in the squad over the last couple of seasons and has proven that he has the ability to score fantastic goals on the biggest of stages.
Who can forget his stunner against FC Barcelona in the Copa de España two and a half years ago? Or his late cameo in the Champions League final triumph over Juventus which saw him bag a nice goal after some great passes?
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Since Martin Odegaard will not be back in the squad next season it seems – he wants to fulfill his two-year loan stint in San Sebastian with Real Sociedad – Asensio will be relied upon to pick up the slack and help provide consistent veteran leadership.