Real Madrid youngster looking for his place in the team after falling out of favour | OneFootball

The 2024/25 season saw a certain Raul Asencio enjoy his breakthrough campaign for Real Madrid. With injuries piling up in the centre-back department, the La Fabrica talent got his chance under Carlo Ancelotti and he made the most of it.

Becoming a regular at the heart of the Real Madrid defence, Asencio even earned a maiden call-up to the Spanish national team back in March.

However, things turned bad for the centre-back towards the end of the season, at the FIFA Club World Cup, where some high-profile errors cost him his place in the team.

Looking for a way back

Since then, Asencio has been forced out of the starting XI at Real Madrid under manager Xabi Alonso, and as highlighted by AS, the young defender is looking to work his way back into the team after his drastic fall.

The arrival of Dean Huijsen in June, for a fee of €58 million, has played a role in Asencio’s reduced role, although at one point the idea seemed for the two youngsters to form the central defensive pairing for Los Blancos.

A penalty conceded against Al-Hilal and a very early red card vs Pachuca hurt his reputation and while he did get a chance vs PSG due to a lack of options, he struggled again.

No minutes this season. (Photo by Dan Mullan/Getty Images)

Since then, he has not played a single minute so far in the first three league matches, although Xabi Alonso has already anticipated that as the calendar becomes more demanding, the time will come for the fringe players.

But the three matches played so far have made the current hierarchy of the centre-backs clear: Eder Militao and Huijsen are the starters, Antonio Rudiger is the first rotation option, leaving Asencio as the fourth centre-back

The recent injury to the German international could open the doors for Asencio to get another chance under Alonso so that he can redeem himself and work his way back into the team.

The young defender also has his eyes on the FIFA World Cup next year, with the defender hoping to be a part of the Spain squad for the tournament – a difficult task to achieve given the intense competition for places.

So, as he looks for his way back into the team, Asencio knows he has a fight on his hands and must work hard to prove himself again.