The coming trident

Asensio's irruption, who sent to the net the first ball he touched in a field after six months of injury, again opens a wide range of possibilities to Zidane. It is true that the Benzema-Hazard duo backed by Modric (that is, the model of four midfielders) turned out for Zidane against Valencia, but it is also true that Madrid had had to do, until Asensio entered, eleven shots on goal to score a goal. Asensio and the trident that forms the Majorcan with Benzema and Hazard changed everything.

Those three names are called to mark a new era in Madrid after the legendary BBC trident. It will be necessary to get used to pronounce these other acronyms, the ABH. It sounds very strange in the country, to heavenly music. The French coach made his intentions clear when he lined up this trident in the first friendly of the US preseason against Bayern. Then Asensio's injury cut them short.

One of the main ills of Real Madrid until the halt due to the pandemic was the lack of goal. If Zidane's team averaged more than three goals per game in the double season, this abnormal campaign was not exceeding two per game. The French coach desperately tries to find the 50 goals per season that went with Cristiano. According to the figures, they are in the Mallorcan and the Belgian, who added 28 goals in 2017-18 (11 and 17 respectively) and 27 goals in 2018-19 (six Asensio, 21 Hazard).

The numbers come out with this new trident, also taking into account Benzema's increased scoring ability after Cristiano's departure. The Frenchman has scored 24% and 30% of Madrid's goals in the two seasons since Cristiano left and in the latter's last, for example, he only made 8%. With Asensio, a new era has come for Real Madrid.