Real Madrid at Levante: What to expect from Marco Asensio

Real Madrid attacking midfielder Marco Asensio made his return against Real Valladolid and looked excellent off the bench.

Marco Asensio needed some time to recover from an injury before the season, but when he returned for the home opener against Real Valladolid, he showed why he will be one of Real Madrid’s most important players this season.

What stood out the most about Asensio’s performance on Wednesday night was his dribbling. He had one play where he cut all the way to the left side of the field, which basically created the opportunity that led to Vinicius Junior’s game-winning goal in the 1-0 victory.

Asensio is mostly known for his positioning, shooting, and passing, but he showed some neat skills throughout the contest. Per WhoScored.com, Asensio had a whopping five dribbles completed in those 33 minutes on the pitch, joining forces with Vinicius to spark the attack off the bench.

Real Madrid have created chances in their last two games but haven’t taken them. So Asensio, who scored three goals this summer after returning from an ACL tear, can greatly help Los Blancos in that regard. He has one of the best left feet in European football.

Real Madrid RW Marco Asensio can take advantage of Levante’s defense

Asensio should get his first start of the season on Sunday afternoon at Levante in what will be Real’s third road game of the 2020-2021 La Liga season.

It’s unclear how Zinedine Zidane will line up, as it’s always a surprise which system he rolls with. Zidane can play with two strikers, a diamond formation with Karim Benzema and another forward like Vinicius Junior or Isco roaming, or a standard 4-3-3. He even used a double-pivot in the first game of the season with Toni Kroos and Luka Modric as the deepest midfielders.

But a standard 4-3-3 seems to be the most likely lineup against Levante. In that case, Asensio would probably start opposite of Vinicius, picking up where they left off against Real Valladolid at mid-week.

The left side of Levante’s defense has serious questions marks, so even on the road, Real Madrid could serve up Asensio with a few big opportunities to score. Asensio only needs one good shooting line to find the back of the net, as he can score from pretty much any range.

Look for Asensio to carry the most goal-scoring threat on the team against Levante and test Aitor Fernandez from distance a couple of times. On the ball, Asensio was lively against Valladolid, and there’s no reason why that shouldn’t continue on Sunday.