When the British left India, they took a great many riches from the country. Of them, the most invaluable one was the Kohinoor diamond. The gemstone is said to be one of the most priceless things ever unearthed from the planet and was initially discovered in the 14th century.
Over the years, the India and Afghanistan government, respectively, tried multiple times to acquire the rights of the precious stone but failed in their endeavours due to the insistence of the British government that they assimilated it through rightful means.
Marco Asensio: The Kohinoor of football
In the world of football, Marco Asensio can be labelled as the equivalent of the Koh-i-Noor diamond. The Real Madrid midfielder was bought from Mallorca for a paltry €3.5 million but is now worth at least 20 times more.
Right now, there are many clubs who would probably kill for his services as his debut season with the Whites has been nothing but brilliant. With nine goals and three assists across all competitions, and that too from only 14 starts, he has stamped his authority at the club and will almost certainly be a more regular fixture in the future.
And the next match in the future is the Clasico.
El Clasicos have always been a true representation of the nation that Spain is: Divided and rampant. The natural disgust between the people of those two states has always been apparent, and the Clasicos, more often than not, become an embodiment of that nature.
Two contrasting playing styles, but with a common ground of on-the-edge blood-rushing clash like Bull Run — Clasico is the miniature version of the culture of collective Spain.
And Marco Asensio represents the best of Spain, but that’s not the only reason why he should be starting in the most hyped club encounter in Europe.
Cristiano Ronaldo’s change and Karim Benzema’s erratic form
There was once a time when Real Madrid’s BBC pairing was like the three musketeers of the football fraternity. Karim Benzema’s elegant link-up play perfectly complemented the explosive and predatory instincts of Cristiano Ronaldo and Gareth Bale.
The Frenchman, however, has had a very erratic season so far. His influence in front of goal has waned and he no longer poses the goalscoring threat that he did last season. Even the sharpness in his combinational play seems to have faded away.
Another reason for this could be Cristiano Ronaldo’s change in playing style. The former United forward used to cut inside from the left before, but not anymore. Right now, he more often than not starts centrally and shares the space with Karim Benzema.
The Frenchman no longer seems to have the extra dimension of building plays in attack since there is no one attacking from the left. In fact, the space in which he operates is now more clustered with Cristiano Ronaldo’s tendency to operate centrally.
Given that Cristiano’s age is going towards the wrong side of the 30s, he has adapted himself incredibly to the ever-burgeoning limitations that ageing inflicts on every footballer. He knows that he can’t beat a defender with a dribble or make defence-splitting passes like he could once upon a timme—and, hence, the next best alternative is to start in a position where he doesn’t have to do the aforementioned two things.
With this change, the responsibility to attack from the left-flank lies solely on the shoulders of Marcelo. While the Brazilian is by far the best attacking full-back in the world, the lack of support from Cristiano means that he has to risk being out of position, defensively, almost every time.
Also read: Reports: Real Madrid to break Word Record fee for Pepe replacement
Gareth Bale’s fitness concerns paves the way for Asensio
This is where Gareth Bale comes in. The former Tottenham man made his name in that very same position, but the Welshman’s fitness issues and decline in form mean that starting him regularly at this point of the season is more of a risk than people can imagine.
Enter the golden boy of Spain: Marco Asensio.
The former Mallorca starlet made his name on the left-wing and has played the majority of his games there. Most of his best games for both Espanyol and Mallorca have, in fact, been from that position and he seems to be the perfect replacement for Gareth Bale at this point of time.
Zinedine Zidane showed his love for Isco by not only playing him against Bayern Munich but also changing the system to a diamond-shaped 4-3-1-2 to suit Isco as he ended up playing behind the forwards, Karim Benzema and Cristiano Ronaldo.
It didn’t work out as expected as the Spaniard had an average game and was subbed off Lucas Vazquez. A while later, Karim Benzema made way for Marco Asensio—and that set of 11 players is the team that should start against Barcelona.
Cristiano Ronaldo became the lone striker and went on to score a hattrick with the box completely owned by him. Marco Asensio himself scored a late goal after sending Mats Hummels to the cleaners with a slick display of skill.
In short, Real Madrid were at their brilliant best after Marco Asensio came on to play on the left-wing with Cristiano alone upfront. This is the system Real Madrid should deploy against the Catalans, especially given that Lionel Messi plays on the right and doesn’t really provide much protection to the right-back.
This will allow both Marcelo and Asensio to wreak havoc on the left-wing against Barca’s right-back, be it, Aleix Vidal or Sergi Roberto, while also giving Marcelo more defensive protection since Asensio is not shy to do the dirty work.
Marco Asensio is the crown jewel of Madrid. His array of skills is beautifully complemented with the acceleration and pace that he possesses. He can either run outside the full-back to make a cross or cut inside to put himself in a scoring position, which is something no Real Madrid player can do as subtly as he does.
Barcelona defenders have faced the BBC, but they are yet to face Madrid’s Asensio—and he is a whole new different beast altogether.
