Marco Asensio
vindicated himself in the match against
Atalanta
.
He managed to see the door again and did so at a very delicate moment for
Madrid
, shortly after
Muriel
scored a free-kick and tightened the tie.
As soon as he got out of the center and two minutes after entering, the Spaniard appeared to lower the rival's fumes and definitively sentence the classification to the quarterfinals (3-1).
The sequence is frantic.
Marco Asensio
Real Madrid
Forward
Spain
News
Statistics
At 81:39, with 2-0 on the scoreboard, he replaced
Fede
Valverde
.
Asensio, who did not even play against
Elche
in the last league match, had 10 minutes to shine in a duel with many spaces.
At 34 seconds, at 82:13, Muriel nailed an impossible free kick for
Courtois
.
The score was 2-1 and the tie, 3-1.
Atalanta needed two goals to pass.
Due to some changes, the kickoff is delayed until 83:35.
After a good and quick move from Madrid, the ball is left to
Lucas
on the right.
The Galician saw only Marco in the opposite post, who in two touches, control and shot, beat
Sportiello
from below.
It was 83:56.
JAVIER GANDUL (DIARIO AS)
As soon as he scored,
he touched his hip in a dedication to his father Gilberto
, who has had many physical problems in that area in recent years.
Asensio promised him a celebration in his honor and he delivered.
Zidane
praised his footballer after the game.
"I'm happy for Marco. He keeps training and has had the opportunity to come in and score the goal," he
commented.
Asensio thus breaks a bad streak in front of the door.
He had not scored since last January 30
, when he scored the only goal for Madrid in the defeat against
Levante
(2-1).
It is his third goal this season and his first in the
Champions
League
.
He also scored against
Celta
in the league on January 2 (2-0).
All three were at
Di
Stéfano
.
As a curiosity, two of the three goal assists he has received have been given by Lucas Vázquez (Celta and Atalanta).
Something that represents a respite in a season of many ups and downs for Asensio.
He has had the blind confidence of Zidane as evidenced by the
1,907 minutes
he has played.
The problem is that he has mixed weeks of very good performance with others in which he has practically not appeared.
With
Hazard
injured again in the most important stage of the season,
Asensio must take a step forward
.
He is the player with the highest quality in the white offense together with
Benzema
, so his contribution should be key if Madrid wants to qualify for the two titles in which he is still alive: League and Champions.
Your time to shine has come.
Real Madrid
Spain
News
Statistics
Champions League
Classification |
PTS |
PG |
PE |
PP |
|---|---|---|---|---|
1Real Madrid |
10 |
3 |
1 |
two |
2B. MGladbach |
8 |
two |
two |
two |
3Shakhtar |
8 |
two |
two |
two |
Complete classification
* Data updated as of March 17, 2021