3 Real Madrid players who have benefited the most from Carlo Ancelotti

Real Madrid manager Carlo Ancelotti has had a somewhat satisfactory season so far. His tactics have been fine and the team appears to be in a good shape, which is pretty evident by the first position in LaLiga and after winning the first cup of the season in form of the Supercopa de Espana. Apart from that, Los Blancos is currently competing in the UEFA Champions League though it is trailing 1-0 to PSG.

After all the experiments done by Carlo Ancelotti over the course of six months of his second stint as a Real Madrid manager, the Italian seems to have found his best possible XI for the season.

Goalkeeper: Thibaut Courtois

Defenders: Daniel Carvajal, Eder Militao, David Alaba and Ferland Mendy

Midfielders: Luka Modric, Carlos Casemiro and Toni Kroos

Attackers: Marco Asensio, Karim Benzema and Vinicius Junior

So far, we have seen some overall improvements in the squad. Carlo Ancelotti’s admission has proved to be a boon for many players, and I will want to throw some light on these specific players.

RW Marco Asensio

Marco Asensio is that one player who has got more chances than anyone. He is the one player Carlo Ancelotti trusts a lot and has played him in many different positions. So far, Marco Asensio has played as a Left Winger, a Right Winger, an Attacking Midfielder, and as a False 9.

Once one of the best youngsters in the world, Marco Asensio was seen as a wonder kid scoring Golazos irrespective of how tight the angle was. The Spaniard was a very important player during the Three-Peat period and was seen as a future sensation. Asensio is gifted with a left foot that can create magic. I don’t think there is any player in the world (of course other than Lionel Messi), who can actually score golazos from such tight angles.

But things do not always go as planned. And that happened with the 26 year old too. Marco Asensio suffered an injury that can turn any footballer’s career into a nightmare. An ACL tear, which he suffered in the pre-season of 2019 against Arsenal. An ACL tear mandates a player to get surgery done and it usually takes 9-10 months in rehab to gain back the fitness. In short, an ACL tear can easily force a player to miss a whole season of football, with absolutely no guarantee of returning back as a true self.

So has been the case for Marco Asensio. He made his return to football in 2020 when football resumed post Covid-19 and scored with his very first touch as a substitute. But he has not been the player he was supposed to be. He became much slower and played with a lot of discomforts.

This has made Asensio very inconsistent and is very frustrating. One could see him coming off the bench and scoring a Golazo and then would play too poor in the next few games. Yet Marco Asensio is a player who has improved way much under Carlo Ancelotti. Asensio is still trying his best to return to the best of his form and has made tremendous improvements, especially compared to the last season.

Statistically speaking, compared to the last season where he scored a total of 7 goals, along with 2 assists in the 2496 minutes he played, Marco Asensio already has 9 goals and an assist in his name in the 1258 minutes this season. He has often proved to be the hero for the team, scoring out of nowhere just at the right moment to seal the victory for the team and helping them stay at the top of the league table. For instance, the game against Granada. Asensio scored to seal the victory and it came at the perfect time.

The Spaniard’s consistency has been a problem for the club, and even though Carlo Ancelotti has trusted Asensio to be the club’s starter at the right wing, his future at Los Blancos is uncertain and shall be decided at the end of the season.

Nonetheless, Marco Asensio is yet another player to have improved so well and can be key in many crucial fixtures – on and off the bench.