1 assist, 93% passing success: Real Madrid Castilla defender shines in his first-team debut – Analysis | OneFootball

Real Madrid finally returned to winning ways after their consecutive defeats to FC Barcelona and AC Milan in the last two matches, as they emerged victorious with a 4-0 scoreline in the match against Osasuna.

This was finally a performance that the Santiago Bernabeu faithful had been waiting for for some time, but this win was a costly one for the Merengues. Only in the first half three of their starters suffer injuries, and, although detailed reports on them are still awaited, the situation of one of these players does not really look good.

This player is the defender Eder Militao, who went to the ground while stationed in the opposition box, and the way he screamed in agony at the time of his fall, it was clear that he was facing quite a serious issue.

This injury put Carlo Ancelotti in quite a difficult position, as the Italian had no other reliable players for the centre-back position than Jesus Vallejo, whom he does not really trust. Aurelien Tchouameni, who has been a makeshift centre-back for the Merengues in emergency situations this season, was already unavailable due to his ankle sprain.

In such circumstances, Ancelotti turned to the 21-year-old Real Madrid Castilla defender Raul Asencio, who made his debut with the first team after replacing the injured Brazilian on the pitch.

His presence on the pitch proved to bring good luck for Los Blancos, as only four minutes after this substitution, Vinicius Junior opened the scoring for his team.

Asencio was not much involved in this first goal of the game, but Real Madrid’ second goal on the night, which came only eight minutes after the first, put all the spotlights on the young debutant.

The defender showed amazing vision to spot Jude Bellingham’s run and put in a sublime ball that found the Englishman right at the edge of the Osasuna box, and the midfielder made no mistakes as he lobbed the ball over Sergio Herrera to double his side’s lead on the night.

Asencio continued to partner Rudiger to keep the backline stable for the rest of the match, and he stayed on the pitch till the final whistle to play his first 60 minutes in La Liga. In this game, he made two clearances and one tackle, while also winning the only ground duel he was engaged in.

He also impressed with his passing, as he had a 93% passing success rate with his 43 out of 46 completed passes. He also put in one key pass, and completed two of his three attempted long balls.

Thus, this was certainly a highly encouraging debut from the young defender, but one that was urgently required, keeping in view the shambolic condition of the Real Madrid backline. Militao’s injury is already appearing to be a serious one, and as things stand, Antonio Rudiger is the only starting centre-back available to Carlo Ancelotti.

But against Osasuna, Asencio made his case to be another option for the Real Madrid manager going forward. Hopefully, he will be able to build on this performance if he gets more opportunities to play after the upcoming international break.