No Cristiano Ronaldo, no problem for Real Madrid.
In last night's Spanish Super Cup second leg at the Bernabeu, the four-time Ballon d'Or winner served the first of his five-game suspension for his red card and subsequent push on the referee in the first leg at the Nou Camp, but Real didn't miss him, Gareth Bale or Casemiro and cruised to a 2-0 victory, giving them a 5-1 victory on aggregate and seeing Los Blancos get their hands on another bit of silverware under Zinedine Zidane.
Marco Asensio played a starring role and again enhanced his reputation with yet another wonder-strike. Not content with scoring one absolute thunderbastard past Marc-Andre Ter Stegen, having bulged the net to seal a 3-1 win for Real at the Bernabeu, the 21-year old rifled another one in the top bins last night to open the scoring early on.
Image: PA
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Real's No.20 has seemingly never scored a bad goal in his life and added another screamer to his collection - this one being eerily similar to his stunner in the UEFA Super Cup against Sevilla last time. As he was in the last minute of Sunday's encounter, Ter Stegen was helpless.
And with Asensio again showing signs that he has it in his locker to be a Ballon d'Or winner in the future, we of course need to remind you that West Ham tried to sign him three years back as an 18-year old at RCD Mallorca.
Any player who has gone on to achieve great things appears to have been linked with the Hammers prior to his meteoric rise, with the Neymar to West Ham story from 2010 doing the rounds again after the Brazilian's world-record move to PSG.
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In June 2014, Simon Jones from the Daily Mail reported West Ham's interest in Asensio, who at the time had only made four top-flight appearances for Mallorca after the club were promoted to La Liga.
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The report notes that Asensio had caught the eye of Manchester City, Barcelona and his current club Real, and describes him as "extremely highly-rated".
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There were even some reports that West Ham had offered €750,000 for the then-talented teenager, and it was subsequently rejected by Mallorca.
Asensio then joined Real for a dirt-cheap €3.5 million later that year, and after spending another season on loan at Mallorca, as well as a temporary stint with Espanyol the following season, the Spaniard has gone from strength to strength under Zinedine Zidane.
He figured 39 times for Real last season, scoring ten goals - including strikes in the UEFA Super Cup and Champions League final.
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His rich vein of form carried over into the Under 21 Euros, his highlight being a wonderful hat-trick in Spain's opening match against Macedonia before he was deservedly named in the Team of the Tournament.
And he's started the new campaign by casually banging in two worldies against Barcelona in two different Spanish Super Cup legs.
His ability of level at this age is quite frightening and you still get the impression that he's not even scratched the surface yet, given that his common role for Real is as a substitute.
But this season, Zinedine Zidane will surely give the young prodigy more chances to impress. As good as 18-year old Monaco sensation Kylian Mbappe is, Real's golden boy, and future Ballon d'Or winner, is already in their ranks.
Image: PA
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It's in Real's best interests to give him more game-time this coming season, as well as tying him down to a new contract that will see his release clause increase from the £72 million it currently stands at.
Paying €3.5 million for his services three years back could well go down as one of the greatest pieces of business in football history and that's no exaggeration.
Featured Image Credit: PATopics: Football, West Ham, Marco Asensio, Real Madrid
