Real Madrid: 5 burning questions after awesome win over Huesca

Is Marcelo now Real Madrid’s biggest liability?

Real Madrid’s lone blemish against Huesca was the goal they allowed in the 74th minute to David Ferreiro, who was unmarked at the far post. He was unmarked because Marcelo failed to track him, which was a common occurrence in this game.

Unfortunately, that’s been the story of the season so far for Marcelo. He’s made a lot of errors defensively. Whereas last season, he was still an effective left back who added a lot to the attack and only occasionally made defensive errors, he has been a huge problem for his own team in 2020-2021 so far.

Marcelo, per WhoScored.com, had two key passes against Huesca, but he wasn’t exactly imposing himself offensively, nor as he this season. So he wasn’t overcoming his defensive mistakes with great attacking play.

At this point, Marcelo is Real’s biggest problem among regular players because of those errors defensively. Against counterattacking teams, Marcelo is exposed badly, and opposing sides know they can always target Real’s left flank when he’s in the match.

Could Marco Asensio lose his starting spot?

Marco Asensio made a huge splash when he returned from injury this summer, scoring with his very first touch in a dream-like moment against Valencia. Then, he assisted Karim Benzema’s wonderful, game-sealing goal.

The player had a string of positive performances as the right winger that summer, scoring a total of three goals. He started 2020-2021 brightly, making an impact off the bench against Real Valladolid among other positive performances.

But Asensio hasn’t been a goal-scoring threat for Real this season. He has zero goals in La Liga and fewer than one key pass per game, meaning the production isn’t good enough.

Asensio should be a star for Real Madrid, and he is the only ideal right winger since Rodrygo Goes is better on the left.

Rodrygo, though, has three assists to tie Benzema for the team lead. He is also averaging 1.0 key passes per game despite only registering one start this season. Asensio had better watch out, because Hazard, Benzema, and Rodrygo could be the more ideal front three.