Future Pillar

It has been a long time since Nacho – who left in the summer – has had a centre-back step straight from Castilla to the first team and become a regular. Although Asencio’s chances have come mainly because of injuries to key players, that has not diminished his value. Ancelotti was already impressed by the Las Palmas player’s potential before Christmas, so Real Madrid have stayed out of the winter transfer market.

So far, Carletto has been right. With Eder Militao, Rudiger and Alaba all out, Asencio has been a winter fire, keeping Real Madrid from collapsing. He won 100% of his duels in the last two big games: 5 against Atletico, 4 against Man City. Furthermore, he has been successful with all 4 of his tackles and completed 95% of his passes. There is one more factor to emphasize: He achieved these impressive statistics without being penalized once.