Real Madrid: Carlo Ancelotti may be on his way to solving his last pressing attacking issue

Real Madrid have two of their three starting positions in the attacking 4-3-3 set. Vinicius Junior and Karim Benzema have literally been the two best players in La Liga this season and two of the best overall players in European football. Between them, these superstar attackers have scored 18 goals with 9 assists in the league.

Those are insane numbers. But Real Madrid are still looking for someone at the right wing position who can meet the demands necessary in the Madrid attack. In 2022-2023, they will have their solution in Kylian Mbappe. Until then, manager Carlo Ancelotti is looking for the best short-term solution.

Omitting Gareth Bale, who is out with another injury, Ancelotti has two imperfect but talented options to choose from, Rodrygo Goes and Marco Asensio.

Let us begin with Rodrygo, who had his finest game of the season on Wednesday night, leading the charge in a 3-0 win over Sheriff in the Champions League. Rodrygo played in a more central role, as that is the role Ancelotti picked out for Marco Asensio. Ancelotti is trying to get his right-sided forward closer to goal-scoring and key-passing situations.

That has worked out well so far. Rodrygo assisted in the win over Sheriff, while Asensio scored in last weekend’s 4-1 victory over Granada at Los Carmenes.

Real Madrid’s RW options have improved

Between these two candidates on the right wing, Rodrygo is the more consistent of the two. He also has more future upside, as he is younger. Yet it is Asensio who may have the leg-up, given the way he has changed Ancelotti’s mind in recent weeks. And his mental toughness has been admirable; that may give him an additional bonus point in the eyes of Carletto.

Real Madrid came into the season with something of a crisis on the right wing. But if recent form is an indication, Los Blancos may have actually found two quality options on the right side. To be fair, we knew Rodrygo would be decent due to his intelligence and crossing. However, against Sheriff, he showed that he can be more than decent; he can be an incisive threat even on the side of the attack he does not favor.

So Ancelotti has an interesting decision to make each and every match Real Madrid play. He can go with the left-footed playmaking Asensio or the high-upside, two-way Rodrygo. While the Brazilian has the edge over the Andalusian in the opinions of most Madridistas, Asensio has shown that he cannot be counted out. And he has past production on his side, lest we forget what he has done for this club prior to a devastating ACL injury.

At least Ancelotti has quality options on the right side of the attack. After finding a superstar on the left in Vinicius, he may have a complete trio to choose from by the end of the season, even before the highly-anticipated summer arrival of Mbappe and the hopeful arrival of Erling Haaland.