November 2024. Real Madrid are facing an injury epidemic in central defense, with David Alaba and Aurélien Tchouameni (then used in defense) unavailable. To complete his squad for the La Liga match against Osasuna, Carlo Ancelotti decides to call on a certain Raul Asencio, well known to assiduous followers of Real Madrid Castilla, but relatively little known to the general public. The central defender, then aged 21, was therefore part of this match against the Rojillos at the Bernabéu, which he started on the bench… Before very quickly coming into play, at the half-hour mark, after Éder Militão’s serious knee injury.
And during this hour spent on the pitch at the Bernabéu, the young Spanish defender caused a sensation. Enough to convince Ancelotti – who didn’t have much choice anyway – to continue to call on him for the next matches, as a starter most of the time. Performing well, he will even assert himself as the starter in the axis, alongside Antonio Rüdiger, and will play in the biggest matches of the season, whether in Europe or in La Liga. A meteoric rise, rather justified at the time, since Asencio had a string of good performances, even being called up for selection. His maturity and cleanliness in duels impressed everyone.
Crippling behavioral problems
To the point where he was already compared to a certain Sergio Ramos, and Merengue supporters were already convinced of having their great central defender for the next decade. All this in a context where many Madrid players regretted the absence of Spanish players in the team, as well as in the Spanish selection, while Barça continued to send players en masse to the La Roja side. Huge hopes were therefore placed in him, but today they have long since disappeared. And for good reason, Asencio is even seen as a pariah in Madrid. How can we explain this fall as meteoric as its explosion? The 2025/2026 season, under the orders of Xabi Alonso, got off to a bad start for him with a disastrous Club World Cup, and the arrival of Dean Huijsen as a serious competitor. Although he still had a good number of opportunities, whether with Alonso or Arbeloa, his level was quite mediocre in general, with errors that he did not make during his first matches in A.
To make matters worse, there were also major extra-sporting problems for him. Involved in a case of distribution of images of sexual intercourse involving a minor, he saw his popularity drop among the public. His recent arrest for drunk driving this summer has not helped matters, while the Spanish media are reporting a player with a very questionable lifestyle. There had also been problems with Alvaro Arbeloa, and a strong argument between the two men had pushed the coach to exclude him from the groups for several matches. Today, Real Madrid supporters have clearly turned their backs on him, and the arrival of Ibrahima Konaté in defense definitively closes any chance of playing under the orders of a Mourinho who did not at all appreciate his latest escapade at the wheel. Still not used by the Portuguese coach this season, the central defender will have to go through the pool to resolve a shin problem and will be absent for at least two months, which clearly does not help his case. Suffice it to say that his future at the Bernabéu looks very bleak…
