Real Madrid: 5 biggest takeaways from the month of February

Real Madrid need more from Marco Asensio

Real Madrid fans were hopeful that Marco Asensio would take a leap forward in the 2020-2021 season, but it may have been very unfair to place this weight of expectations onto the left-footed attacking midfielder.

Asensio gave Madridistas reason to hope after a fantastic summer, which included a dream of a return in a crucial 3-1 home win over Valencia. But maybe the post-injury buzz should have been tempered after all, as Asensio has struggled in the 2020-2021 season.

To start the month of February, Asensio wasn’t all that bad. He played reasonably well against Getafe and Valencia, for example, recording four key passes in the first 2-0 win and then five dribbles completed vs. Valencia.

But Asensio really disappointed fans with his anonymous displays against Real Valladolid and Atalanta. You’d scarcely notice him on the pitch if you weren’t specifically looking for him, such was the nature of his two most recent matches.

Real Madrid have another left-footed right winger in their ranks in Castilla call-up Sergio Arribas, but he isn’t ready and should not have to face the brunt of expectations himself either. Los Blancos need more from Asensio. We know he is capable of more, but the question is, how can Zinedine Zidane extract more from a player who has been so thoroughly mediocre this season?