Ivan Campo was injured and Karanka tThere was discomfort, so Del Bosque brought in Paco Pavón, like Nacho, the reference center back when talking about youth players in the Real Madrid first team. “Being a youth player is very difficult,” he acknowledges when asked about Raul Asencio. Militao has been injured and Alaba has not recovered. As if it were Pavón, a door that seemed very closed has been opened for Asencio. “Due to the needs of the first team, an opportunity has opened up,” says Pavón. «As a defender, it is true that it is easier to get into the first team because the players at the top are many and very good, but then when it comes to the game, it is very difficult to be a central player in the Real Madrid first team, because you cannot “You are protected.”
Before the match against Leganés It was seen how Rüdiger spoke with Raúl Asencio and gave him several instructions. It was his first game as a starter for Real Madrid. He had played against Osasuna, due to an emergency situation, and Ancelotti continued to bet on him for last Sunday's clash. It was, as it happened to Pavón, as it happens to almost all players who come from below, a necessity, but it was also a test. If he passed it, and he did, he would have the final exam, the Ebau for any footballer: today, at Anfield, Liverpool.
“At Real Madrid,” Pavón recalls, «you go from playing what was previously Second B to being a starter in the great fields of Europe. “I made my debut against Athletic, then I played in Vitoria and then in the Champions League.” Asencio faces the Premier League leader today, eight points ahead of Manchester City and who also leads the Champions League standings. At the very least, it produces respect.
Coach Arne Slot has collected the best of Klopp and He has built a team that mixes pause with vertigo and that knows how to hurt rivals. Above, Salah, Although he has taken advantage of his good moment to give clues about his departure, it is fixed and essential. Next to him, Gapko and Luis Díaz. It is not the team that shoots the most or scores the most goals in Europe, but it is undoubtedly the one that makes the best use of its chances.
And against them, Mendy, Valverde in a position that is not his, Rüdiger and the youth player who has impressed in the first team. Asencio had been standing out in the lower categories for years and both he and the club decided to stay together despite the fact that in recent years he has had offers to leave. «He has played seriously and with maturity», Ancelotti explained after last Sunday's game. And those are two of the main virtues of the footballer: he is not afraid and he is not afraid of challenges. Despite not being tall, he goes high and does not lose his position. Furthermore, in the reserve team's locker room Raúl Asencio is the undisputed leader.
Better ball output
“It surprised me for the better,” says Paco Pavón, “I had seen him in the reserve team and there he had a lot of hierarchy and you could see that he was very fast, but in addition, in the first team, he is developing well from the back, at the start of the game. Since he has been there, the release of the ball from behind is cleaner and that helps the creative people at the top.» . It was seen in the first game he played, against Osasuna. He saw Bellingham's unmarking like no one else and put the ball behind his back. According to Relevo, he has been rehearsing those long balls a thousand times with Raúl, at Castilla. The legendary white captain asks him to try to go out diagonally towards the sides. Clearly he has learned his lesson.
Asencio has always been very clear about what he wanted and his goal was to reach the first team. As a sport, he was close to not making it because he left Madrid with his parents, but they asked him to return. And since then, it has followed a straight line.
Although his name has come out due to judicial problems, now is when he is truly known ““You go from seeing Madrid on TV to being recognized on the street, suddenly you stop being anonymous.”says Pavón. Raúl Asencio does not seem affected by that. Focused on football, he knows that he has passed the first level, the almost impossible leap to reach the first team. The second remains: the highly competitive matches. “Let him continue at this level,” is Paco Pavón's only advice.
