Excitement builds for Asensio as Real Madrid plot La Liga title defence

Published on: 19 August 2017

The ESPN FC crew discuss whether anyone can stop Real Madrid in La Liga.

Having conquered the first two trophies of the official season -- the European Super Cup against Manchester United and the Spanish Cup against Barcelona -- Real Madrid will open their La Liga campaign on Sunday, in La Coruna.

Things have changed of late, but a couple of decades ago, the Riazor stadium became a synonym for humiliating defeats.

Those were the "Super Depor" times. That outstanding team revelled in showing their flair with overwhelming displays against the Madridistas. They picked apart Real Madrid in 1993-94 (4-0), 1995-96 (3-0), 1998-99 (4-0 again), 1999-00 (5-2) and 2001-02 (another 3-0).

At some point it seemed as though any Depor player, whatever their talent, could enjoy a fine afternoon against a shockingly disappointing Real Madrid. From the gifted Djalminha to the average, but hard fighting Claudio Barragan, many of the members of that unforgettable side can recall a few moments of anti-Madridista glory during those years.

That is not the case any more. Take last season, for instance. Real Madrid won 6-2 in La Coruna, in a superb performance of what became known as their B-side. Isco orchestrated a phenomenal afternoon for Madrid, who dominated the Riazor and led 3-1 at half time. James Rodriguez and Alvaro Morata scored three between them, a fact that presents us with the main question mark over this seasons' squad: do they have enough attacking depth?

Whereas the new arrivals in defence and midfield seem enough to compensate for those who left, Morata and James contributed to 23 La Liga goals last season and were a menace in their displays. Someone else must step up now. It's obvious that in giving Marco Asensio et al more minutes, their numbers should increase, but the departure of that unhappy duo will also mean more minutes and less rotations for the theoretical starters.

Coach Zinedine Zidane does not like the notion of A and B sides, as he made clear in Friday's prematch news conference.

"There's no A or B team. We're always be making changes to the line-up", he said.

That is, in part, consistent with what happened last year. Analysing most La Liga matches in the final third of the season, right when he found the right approach with his rotations, there's always a few theoretical starters featuring, whether they needed to keep their shape, or just to keep some sort of consistency between starting XIs.

Marco Asensio has enjoyed a stunning start to his Real Madrid career and could be set for a big season.

And that is much of the fun for this new season for the average Real Madrid supporter. Now that it's evident Zidane fundamentally believes in rotations and that he will apply them with full confidence, guessing who the French manager will choose becomes an extra element of interest for most La Liga matches.

The additions of promising players Theo Hernandez and Dani Ceballos -- both are bound to play a decent amount of league minutes this year -- has complemented Zidane's will to rotate with an exciting number of bench players that most fans want to see in action.

But the biggest lineup question for any Madridista this season is obvious: will Asensio start? After the kid from Mallorca cemented his wonder-boy status with memorable Super Cup performances and goals against Barcelona, the rest of the bench has become a bit less important.

If last season his arrival brought an undeniable excitement among most fans, the confirmation of his talent has only increased this interest, taking it to almost over-hyped levels.

And the kid keeps delivering on the pitch and sounding as down to earth off it as anyone can get. Zidane praised him again on Friday but, as usual, did not confirm whether he'll play as a starter.

His last words were for Gareth Bale. "I hope this will be a very important year for him," he said.

Without Morata and James, the Welshman is the key for the attacking balance of the team in a very intense pre-World Cup season, and Zidane seems determined to give him as many chances as he needs to recover his 2015 form.

Eduardo is one of ESPN FC's Real Madrid bloggers and has been a socio since 1995. Follow him on Twitter @alvarez.

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Source: espn.co.uk

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