Throughout the season, the (practically) only doubt that Ancelotti had in his eleven type was the third axis of his attacking trident. Immovable Benzema and Vinicius; eternal Casemiro, Kroos and Modric; only injuries disarmed that Carvajal, Militao, Alaba, Mendy; and little to say about Courtois. But that Asensio versus Rodrygo was presented, week after week, as the most even race for earning a place on the board of Carletto. Goals and forceful punch against assists and better sensations than certainties. At times, the left foot of the Balearic seemed to prevail. But, with the Champions League as a thermometer, he is losing momentum at the hot moment of the course.
His scoring figures (he has ten goals), especially, made Marco settle as a starter in the tie against PSG. It was the first time that he appeared at the start of the top continental competition this year, after adding only 31 minutes in the entire group stage. In the Parc des Princes he was diluted, but like the whole team and Ancelotti he once again trusted him for the second leg, in search of a comeback. He did not give the necessary blow on the table and lost minutes with respect to the first leg. He went from playing 72 minutes to being substituted in the 57th minute by Rodrygo and, from there, to a clean sheet against Chelsea in the quarterfinals. And it is that, now it has arrived a third guest from Montevideo who has passed both on the right: Fede Valverde.
The Hawk Uruguayan took advantage of the break, where he used two great performances with Uruguay (he qualified for the World Cup being key, in a more advanced position than his usual position in Madrid) as a springboard. Against Chelsea, Ancelotti, fearing the physical exuberance of the current European champion, chose Fede as false extreme. False because he attacked from the eight lane and covered Carvajal’s back in the ‘2’. The experiment could not have gone better and, since then, the one who plays on the big nights is the 15 and not the 11.
Overtaking
If he spent 86 minutes on the pitch at Stamford Bridge, he completed 120 minutes on the return leg at the Bernabeu. Y when the whites needed counter after Werner’s 0-3, the chosen one was the 21. A Rodrygo who would become a hero moments later with his soulful volley, taking advantage of Modric’s titanic serve in the 80′. Asensio, meanwhile, could only celebrate from the bench, passing from starter in the round of 16 to a clean sheet just one round later. While his rivals are going through sweet times, just as the season enters its most decisive stage.
It is not being a bad campaign for the Balearic Islands, at least numerically. We already say that He has ten goals, Madrid’s third top scorer behind Benzema and Vinicius, with 38 and 17 goals respectively. However, Valverde’s omnipresence and Rodrygo’s opportunism in this last section have made him lose positions in the preference list by Ancelotti. In fact, there has been the ‘sorpasso’ of the Brazilian in terms of minutes, with 1,792′, for Marco’s 1,720′. While Valverde and his 2.172′ appear far away, although his multifunctionality gives him an advantage in that regard. There are less than two months left until the end of the season and, with a contract until June 2023 and Milan interested in taking him over, there are crucial matches for Marco Asensio’s future…