Real Madrid v Fiorentina - Pre-Season Friendly
Real Madrid v Fiorentina - Pre-Season Friendly | Christian Bruna/GettyImages
Real Madrid Castilla centre-back Mario Rivas is "gaining options" to be called up to the first team in order to replace Raul Asencio, according to a report from AS.
The report states that Jose Mourinho considers him his favourite option from the academy, and He has a lot of options to start for Real Madrid and replace Raul Asencio in the squad. It is a bit of a surprise that Joan Martinez is not the one who is being favoured to be brought into the first team by Mourinho, considering how highly everyone at the club rates the player.
Even so, Rivas is also a really good player and has proven in the past that he can be trusted by Mourinho.
Mario Rivas was great for Real Madrid in the pre-season friendlies
Mourinho played Rivas in quite a few games in the preseason friendlies, and it is fair to say that the Spaniard was quite impressive. In those matches, he rarely put a foot wrong with the ball, and even though there are things that he has to improve on without the ball, he still did everything to a very decent level.
He has started the season well with Castilla too and has looked like one of their more solid players so far.
The one game where he did make an error, though, was the Under-20 Intercontinental Cup final against the Santiago Wanderers at the Bernabeu. His mistake led to a goal for the away side, which wasn't the best bit of football he has played this year.
However, if you don't include that, the rest of the season has been really good for the Spanish central defender. Hopefully, Rivas is able to make an impact if he ever gets a chance to play professional minutes for the first team.
Rivas has a lot of potential. He is not the tallest centre-back in Real Madrid's academy, but he is certainly one of the more mature ones that have come out of the system recently. If he is able to get a good amount of minutes for the first team, his chances of being a top-level player elsewhere will go up substantially, which is what everyone wants in the first place.
Hopefully, Rivas is able to live up to the task if he ever plays professional minutes for Real Madrid, and hopefully he's able to leave a mark and even join the first team at some point in the future.
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Raul Asencio is proving to be a massive liability for Real Madrid
Atletico de Madrid v Real Madrid - LaLiga EA Sports 2026/27
Atletico de Madrid v Real Madrid - LaLiga EA Sports 2026/27 | Quality Sport Images/GettyImages
Real Madrid defender Raul Asencio is set to have surgery for the injury to his right leg, according to the club’s statement. He could be out for the next four months, according to the report from MARCA, and it will be yet another long-term injury on the cards for Real Madrid.
The club has already been dealing with injuries to Ferland Mendy, Eder Militao, and Rodrigo over the course of the last few months, and now Asencio will be the next player to be added to the list. Bear in mind, Asencio has not played a single minute of football this season.
It is truly remarkable for a player to be as young as Asencio to just be so unreliable for the biggest team in the world, especially as a young player who has come from the academy. It is probably in his best interest to prove to Mourinho that he is a worthy player to have in the team.
Jose Mourinho wanted Raul Asencio to leave, but he didn't
Instead, Asensio did not leave when Mourinho reportedly asked him to leave because he wanted to fight for his place, but he also cannot stay fit to play football for the team. He cannot be relied upon consistently as well, and he has so many other issues that have just not gone well with the club, particularly the most recent instance of being careless off the pitch.
Real Madrid wanted to sign a centre back in the summer. For that to happen, they also wanted to sell one of their defenders so that there is space for another player to come in. Asensio was supposed to be one of those who Real Madrid wanted to sell because he is still a young player and he has a decent market value. However, Asensio ended up refusing to leave, and he also just continued to be unavailable for the team when they needed him most.
It is actually a really weird time for Mourinho because Ibrahim Konate could have been injured. Dean Huijsen is already suspended for the game against Villarreal, and since Asensio is set to miss the game against Villarreal too, then that would have left Antonio Rudiger as the only option at centre back.
Thankfully, Konate will likely return to the squad to face Villarreal. However, if that wasn't the case, then Asencio would have once again left Real Madrid in a bad situation. It is not because he wants to. Obviously, sometimes you get injured, but not being able to stay fit even when you're not playing is not really a good or reliable sign for a Real Madrid-calibre player.