Four defeats in five games – Real Madrid struggle without youngster on the pitch | OneFootball

Raul Asencio has been Real Madrid’s saving grace in defence this season and while Carlo Ancelotti took his time to see the light, it is clear that the manager has given the academy star the prominence he deserves in recent games.

The youngster, after all, has stepped up his game at the back and struck up a great partnership with Antonio Rudiger in defence.

While indeed Real Madrid’a backline is still relatively porous, utilising Asencio has added at least a degree of security.

Real Madrid’s curse without Asencio

As relayed in a recent update by AS, Real Madrid’s record without Asencio testifies to his importance to the team and proves why he is absolutely indispensable.

The Spanish outlet bring to light that Real Madrid have lost four of the last five games where Asencio started on the bench.

In fact, they are Real Madrid’s only defeats in recent times with the 1-0 defeat at Riyadh Air Metropolitano being the only other defeat.

Raul Asencio has become a key figure in the Madrid defence. (Photo by Alex Davidson/Getty Images)

Real Madrid’s curse without the Spanish youngster began in the final of the Supercopa de Espana when Ancelotti opted for Aurelien Tchouameni in defence ahead of Asencio.

He then started on the bench in the team’s defeat to Espanyol which ended in a 1-0 defeat before resting once more against Real Betis. On that occasion, Los Blancos went on to lose 2-1.

Most recently, Ancelotti started Asencio on the bench for the team’s against Valencia which culminated in a 2-1 defeat for Real Madrid.

Notably, the only win when Asencio was rested in this duration was against Brest in the UEFA Champions League.

The talented defender is thus set to return to the starting lineup against Arsenal and Ancelotti will hope his presence offers the team more stability in defence. Using him as a substitute, after all, appears to be nothing short of a curse.