Asensio, a minute of glory

One minute and 35 seconds. That is the exact time that elapsed between Asensio's spur shot (24 years old), which was about to be the goal of the season if he doesn't hit the post, and his subtle cross that put Casemiro's goal on a tray. A minute and a half that changed the fortunes of Madrid's game against Granada and even Asensio himself in Zidane's team.

Until yesterday the Mallorcan was ambushed in his worst streak since he played with the white jersey, five seasons ago (after two assignments to Mallorca and Espanyol) … an eternal promise. He had played 19 games without scoring or assisting. Too much for a footballer who was thought to have the Ballon d'Or at his fingertips.

Asensio's reunion with his football took place on the left, which fuels the debate about what his ideal position in the team is and complicates, incidentally, Zidane's life. Because that left wing is not only the ideal position of the Majorcan (from there his centers are lethal), but also from Hazard, Vinicius, and Rodrygo himself, who worked on that flank until he was injured. On the right, it is Lucas Vázquez who seems to have settled.

So much could Asensio's luck change in that minute and a half that elapsed between his spur and his center that, while that time passed, Vinicius and Isco were preparing to enter the field. The Brazilian would have displaced Asensio to the right, and Asensio could not have invented that center that unblocked the game. After the goal, scored by Casemiro in 56, Zidane endured the change of Vinicius and Isco until 77 '.

Zidane's intention to bet on Asensio was clear from the start of the season. After the first eight days, he had started five. It is the trident dreamed of by technician and entity. Asensio, Benzema and Hazard. But given the lack of performance of the Balearic Islands, he ended up disappearing … Now, in Zidane's eleven, with Hazard healthy, he only dances one position. The one that Asensio, Vinicius, Rodrygo, Lucas Vázquez, Valverde and Isco dispute … Of all, only Lucas Vázquez has taken a step forward: he has 14 games in a row as a starter. But there is something magical about Asensio. So much so that in a minute he is able to turn his situation around.