Asensio divides opinion: Another wonder goal, but he confronts the fans
It has been a very strange 2021/22 campaign for Marco Asensio. With the potential arrival of Kylian Mbappé at the back of his mind, the Spaniard has struggled at spells this term but has also produced some special moments, reaching a career-high seven LaLiga Santander goals already.
His latest came on Saturday night at the Bernabéu as he opened the scoring against Alavés with a blast from distance, just as he had done against Granada two weeks previously. However, despite scoring this first goal of what became a 3-0 win, Asensio was criticised by many Real Madrid supporters.
5 - Only Ruslan Malinovskyi 🇺🇦 (six) has scored more goals from outside the box than Marco Asensio 🇪🇸 this season across all competitions among all players in Europe's big five leagues (five, level with Fabián Ruiz 🇪🇸 and Leroy Sané 🇩🇪). Sniper. pic.twitter.com/pyO0XkQ5iU
— OptaJose (@OptaJose) February 19, 2022
The fans at the Bernabéu whistled the entire team as they walked off with the score at 0-0 at half-time, just days after their impotent performance against PSG. In the second half, Asensio was even individually whistled, especially after a mistake which almost allowed Alavés to open the scoring.
The man from Mallorca definitely heard that criticism, because he made two controversial gestures during his goal celebration. With one, he made a whistling sign with his fingers and told the fans not to do that. With the other, he put his finger over his lips to tell them to shush.
Marco Asensio to the fans after scoring his goal: pic.twitter.com/qGFZ8fRnj6
— Madrid Zone (@theMadridZone) February 19, 2022
That hasn’t gone down well with certain sections of the Real Madrid fanbase, even if they are grateful for Asensio’s goal to break the deadlock against Alavés.
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What does the future hold for Asensio?
When looking at Asensio’s future, so much of it depends on whether Real Madrid can close the deal to bring Mbappé to the Bernabéu. If the Frenchman arrives, then it’ll be Asensio who loses out on those minutes.
That makes sense, since Asensio is already the starter whose place in the Carlo Ancelotti’s XI is the most delicate. Over the first half of the season, Asensio and Rodrygo shared that position and, even if the Mallorcan has made it his own to start 2022, Ancelotti was preparing to substitute the Brazilian on just before Asensio conjured up his super strike on Saturday night.
Asensio’s contract at Real Madrid runs until 2023, so this summer will be an important one for his future. Real Madrid would prefer to renew him or to sell him, rather than let his deal expire. However, there is a difference of opinion in the Bernabéu boardroom over whether Asensio merits a new deal and, if so, how much he should be paid.
From the player’s point of view, he wants to earn minutes in order to make it onto Luis Enrique’s Spain list for the 2022 World Cup at the end of the year. Staying at Real Madrid would mean staying in his comfort zone, but the path to the pitch could be blocked by the front three of Benzema, Vinícius and Mbappé.
For now, Asensio will just hope to remain the starter for the rest of this campaign. Goals like Saturday’s will help him in that. Confrontations with the fans won’t.
