Real Madrid: 5 burning questions after an important win vs. Alaves

How can Real Madrid maximize Marco Asensio?

Marco Asensio looked like he was headed for another catastrophic performance at the Santiago Bernabeu. The crowd began to whistle and jeer him, having watched him do precisely nothing in the first half and then nearly hand Alaves the match with a woeful backpass.

In an instant, as he has done so often this season, Asensio changed the narrative with a beautiful goal, curling the ball into the far post with his left foot. Asensio has scored a handful of delightful goals this season, and this one was right up there with the goal against Inter Milan as one of his best. It was a moment of class amidst a forgettable match, and it eventually gave way to more excellent play from Los Blancos.

Asensio is capable of magic out of thin air with that shot of his, but if he is not shooting, he is largely not helping the team. Now, Asensio tries more in the second half of matches to get involved and move across the pitch, slotting in passes. But he just doesn’t have the one-on-one quality or skill-set to take over matches like the way Madrid want their wingers to.

His lack of all-around ability becomes a huge liability in matches against opponents like PSG, but his penchant for the spectacular from nothing is valuable against the likes of Granada and Alaves. Real Madrid have thrown around the idea of Asensio as a super sub, and that works sometimes. But he can also get starts against certain opponents, such as these aforementioned LaLiga sides or even the club he netted a hat trick against, his old stomping grounds of Mallorca.