2 positives and 2 negatives from Real Madrid’s 2-3 win over Barcelona

Real Madrid put in a mixed performance in a game that they were favorites to win. In the end, Real Madrid continued their dominance over arch-rivals FC Barcelona who came all out against Carlo Ancelotti’s men, forcing the game to go into extra-time. Fede Valverde continued his love affair with El Clasicos as his extra-time strike guaranteed Los Blancos a ticket to the season’s first final, to be played on the weekend. Here is my assessment of the positives and negatives from the clash for the men in white.

1. Marco Asensio continues struggling for consistency

Jumping on to the negatives first, this may not be as simple as the title suggests. We have known for some time now that Marco Asensio’s biggest problem is his consistency. After dropping a clutch shift against Alcoyano and then dropping his most complete performance of the season against Valencia, there were hopes for the Spaniard to come up with some magic in a clash where he has scored some ‘golazos‘ for the archives in the past.

It didn’t go as well this time. Asensio looked like he was back to being his lethargic self. This is a major problem because there are two major decisions related to Asensio. First, his contract extension, and second the pecking order at right-wing. Rodrygo Goes replaced the Spaniard around the 70th-minute mark in the second half and was definitely a major upgrade on him. However, his last-second miss in front of an open goal again raised a few eyebrows including that of the Italian coach.

Finding the perfect right-wing partner to complement Karim Benzema and Vinicius Junior remains a major issue for Real Madrid. With Asensio probably on his way out of the club next summer and Rodrygo Goes still searching for his breakthrough, Real Madrid might have to move to the market for this specific position. They are making headway to sign Kylian Mbappe who could be a lucrative yet practical solution.

But, for this season at least, having Asensio continue his form would have been the best solution with Rodrygo coming on in the second half to inject some more energy. But as it is, the Spaniard might have undone all the good work he did to gain Ancelotti’s trust and I think we are on our way towards seeing more experimentation on the right from the Italian coach in the coming games.