Real Madrid loanee Takefusa Kubo impresses almost every time he’s on the pitch for Villarreal, especially in the Europa League.
It took some time for Takefusa Kubo to become a regular in Mallorca’s starting XI during his first loan spell under contract at Real Madrid, but he eventually established himself as one of the breakout stars in La Liga.
The same story nearly repeated in his loan this season at Villarreal, which beat out clubs of the magnitude of Ajax, Sevilla, and Bayern Munich for his signature. Unai Emery’s seemingly grand plans for Kubo didn’t materialize at first, leaving Madridistas frustrated.
But Kubo is playing a more important role for the Yellow Submarine, especially in the Europa League where he’s started in all three games.
Kubo added his third assist of the 2020-2021 Europa League campaign against Maccabi Tel Aviv, which Villarreal won handily 4-0.
Here is a video of Kubo’s assist, courtesy of the Blanco Zone on Twitter.
Takefusa Kubo can become a great chance-creator for Real Madrid one day
Kubo’s setup for this goal, scored by experienced striker Carlos Bacca to give the team a 2-0 cushion, is excellent. The 19-year-old takes on a defender on the right side, draws out another defender, notices that he needs to cut inside, and uses his trusty left foot to loop in a cross to the six-yard box near the far post.
It’s a wonderful assist. Kubo sees the space and anticipates that a goal-hungry, savvy striker like Bacca, who had already scored one that day, would be able to pounce. And Bacca made no mistake with the clear-cut finish.
There are so many subtle examples in Kubo’s game of how advanced he is and how much he can offer as a creator. Real Madrid have one future elite chance-creator in Martin Odegaard, and Kubo can give them a second. So Kylian Mbappe and Erling Haaland, if they were to join Real in the next two years, wouldn’t have any issues finding chances.
On top of the assist, Kubo had a total of four key passes against Maccabi Tel Aviv on Thursday night. That means he has four key passes in each of his Europa League matches.