Real Madrid have three huge matches on the horizon against Liverpool (twice) and Barcelona, but they could not afford to overlook their opponents in La Liga this weekend. Zinedine Zidane knows full well that he is in the same situation as the end of last season. Every game is a final, and Los Blancos cannot afford any slip-ups.
Well, Real got the job done at the Estadio Alfredo Di Stefano, defeating Eibar 2-0 in a game that featured free-flowing attacking football from the hosts. Los Blancos had a hat-trick of goals chalked up for offsides, so the scoreline flattered Eibar, if anything.
Here are four burning questions after the win as Real prepare for their upcoming Champions League fixture against Liverpool.
Is the Marco Asensio turnaround complete?
Marco Asensio scored in back-to-back matches off the bench in 3-1 wins over Atalanta and Celta Vigo. The rest from the Elche match worked out well for the right winger, and he made his return to the starting XI in Real’s first post-break match against Eibar.
He was close to a hat trick, too. Asensio hit a free kick off the bar, and he had a goal-of-the-season-candidate of a backheel chalked off for offsides. But he got his goal in the first half after a composed finish.
Asensio is Real’s only left-footed attacking threat and their most ideal starter on the right-hand side because of his technical quality. He can be a nice complementary scorer for Karim Benzema, as we have seen in these last three matches. Asensio may be catching fire at the exact right time with the big matches coming up.