Real Madrid: Grading every forward from the 2020-2021 season

RW Marco Asensio

It’s time to start getting honest with Marco Asensio. Firstly, we should have tempered our expectations more heading into the 2020-2021 season. Yes, he had a fantastic summer in his return from an ACL tear, but we should not have gassed him so much after scoring a couple of goals. Creating inflated expectations rarely helps a player, and Asensio has been a victim of this before in his career.

But we also have to acknowledge a bigger issue with Asensio than the lack of production. What frustrated Madridistas the most about Asensio’s 2020-2021 season was his lack of consistency. You’d expect a 25-year-old player in Madrid, who has been at the club for years, to offer more throughout the 90 minutes and not be a passenger in so many games.

Vinicius Junior has his flaws, but he always brings 100 percent intensity. There are too many games where fans cannot even tell Asensio is playing. This wasn’t just a once-in-a-while thing or something down to a cold streak. Asensio had games from September to May in which he barely touched the ball, took nobody on, and failed to get into good positions in the box.

Real Madrid need more from their wingers. They need their wingers to take the initiative and create their own luck. Asensio barely did that this season. Aside from one hot streak in which he scored in four straight games, he didn’t look like a Real Madrid-level starter. That’s a problem.

I have to give him a lower grade than Eden Hazard, too. Even though Asensio played more games, he averaged 0.31 goals and assists per 90, worst among regular starters up front. Compare that to Hazard’s 0.60, and I have to give the more efficient player the better rating.

Rating: 4.0