The Real Champs
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3 takeaways as Real Madrid demolish Mallorca 6-1 at the Bernabeu

By Hridyam Arora

MADRID, SPAIN - SEPTEMBER 22: Karim Benzema (R) of Real Madrid CF celebrates scoring what would have been their fourth goal with teammate Rodrygo Goes (L) but the goal was then disallowed during the La Liga Santander match between Real Madrid CF and RCD Mallorca at Estadio Santiago Bernabeu on September 22, 2021 in Madrid, Spain. (Photo by Gonzalo Arroyo Moreno/Getty Images)
MADRID, SPAIN - SEPTEMBER 22: Karim Benzema (R) of Real Madrid CF celebrates scoring what would have been their fourth goal with teammate Rodrygo Goes (L) but the goal was then disallowed during the La Liga Santander match between Real Madrid CF and RCD Mallorca at Estadio Santiago Bernabeu on September 22, 2021 in Madrid, Spain. (Photo by Gonzalo Arroyo Moreno/Getty Images) /
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Marco Asensio
MADRID, SPAIN – SEPTEMBER 22: Marco Asensio of Real Madrid during the La Liga Santander match between Real Madrid v Real Mallorca at the Estadio Santiago Bernabeu on September 22, 2021 in Madrid Spain (Photo by David S. Bustamante/Soccrates/Getty Images) /

Marco Asensio may have found his perfect role

Marco Asensio had a fantastic game vs Mallorca on Wednesday. I haven’t said the first six words of that sentence in that order in a very, very long time. It does feel good to see, because it seems like Ancelotti has finally figured out what kind of role and position he wants Asensio to play whenever he’s on the pitch.

Ancelotti said in a press conference from earlier this season that he’s trying to convert Marco Asensio into a central midfielder. It kind of made sense, but it also kind of didn’t, since we know there are certain aspects of a central midfielder’s game that Asensio struggles in. For example, he’s not a great defender, he doesn’t track back all that often. When he does, his stamina lets him down, and his output decreases on both ends of the pitch.

Against Mallorca, he put Asensio in front of the double pivot of Eduardo Camavinga and Fede Valverde, and gave him a lot of attacking privileges. He didn’t have to track back all that often as he already had two players doing the defensive work. Since Asensio wasn’t on the wings, he didn’t need a lot of pace to get past opponents. He did very well in the role that he was given, and scored three goals in a memorable performance.

The only downside is that this system won’t really be used all that often, but if and when it is used, Asensio has proved that it is perfect for him. A few more of these games and it’ll force Ancelotti to think whether he needs to tinker with the system to incorporate Asensio into the lineup, or change the system in the second half and have him come on as an impact sub. Great game.

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