MArco Asensio (21-1-1996, Calvi) has already been to two Champions League finals. And I win both. They were before a serious knee injury that he has forgotten. He smiles easily and conveys confidence. He feels strong, supported by a season in which he presents better numbers than ever. His left foot has left several goals of superlative beauty, but he does not hide that he did not mind scoring uglier goals. He will give them all for a horrible one on Saturday that is the Fourteenth.
Ask. Are you sleeping with so few days left until the final against Liverpool?
Response. Yes, I sleep well. It is true that this week is prepared differently. A Champions League final is something that all players want to play and it is prepared in a special way. I try to enjoy the week, the game and face it calmly.
P. You already know that it is a Champions League final and you are not surprised, right?
R. It will be my third Champions League final. The first was the newest in sensations. It was hard for me to sleep, but from the second you get along better, more internalized all the mental preparation of the game. We need maximum concentration and try to enjoy.
Q. Do you believe it after what has happened during this Champions League?
R. Yes, I believe it, although it is true that it has been a very different Champions League from the previous two, because all the qualifiers have been traced back. They have been incredible games that when it finished we did not know if we what had happened. There is a communion with the fans that I haven’t felt for a long time. It has been very special for everyone.
P. Do you put yourself in the shoes of a rival like PSG, Chelsea or Manchester City in those games?
R. It must be painful and complicated. But I put myself in the shoes of a Real Madrid player and I’ve really enjoyed it. We have one last game left, the icing on the cake of the season, which is trying to win the Fourteenth.
P. It is explained only by what you have on your chest, the Real Madrid shield, the pride of the shirt.
R. With that and with a lot of work. I think that in the end it seems that it is a coincidence, but it is not. It is to be all prepared. Before the City game we had already seen a video of the comebacks. You have to prepare all the scenarios before each game, whether you are winning or losing. All of that works. And then it is reflected in the field.
P. A light touch of yours with your head helped the extra time against City…
A. Those are the little details. Wow assistance! [risas]. Then I looked at it and it was counted as attendance, it is to go with faith until the end. The DNA of Real Madrid is to try to give everything. It is true that in the air I doubted a little whether to give it or not. In the end I did it, Rodrygo put it in and that gave rise to extra time and being able to reach the final.
Q. Those are the details that change the balance.
R. Yes, also as you mature in soccer you realize that all those details can be taken care of. All the Champions League matches that I have experienced at Real Madrid have been decided by those details, both finals and knockouts. It is something that the players have internalized, it is something that they teach us at this club.
P. What is there to take care of for Liverpool? What details, what points?
A. We don’t know that yet, it happens during the games. But you have to prepare all the phases of the game and analyze the rival. We have to focus above all on ourselves, on our virtues, try not to make mistakes so that they don’t take advantage of it. They have very fast players up front. Taking care of all that and then there is the heart, the passion we have for another Champions League and how competitive we all are. It is no coincidence that we have reached so many finals and won so many titles.
P. It is being shown that these details are from minute 1 to 90 of the match, or more.
R. S, it can be a stop by the goalkeeper against one that the rival fails, our goals or goals that at one point you catch the discolored rival and take advantage of those weaknesses. They can be from not putting them in to not putting us in, defending one play well or attacking well in another, it’s all those phases that we have to take care of.
P. There is a montage of Klopp with Guardiola where he says “do not mark that it is a trap”. He has seen it?
R. I saw it, it’s very funny. It is true that all the laps have been at home. These last two years we haven’t been able to play at the Santiago Bernabu, everything has come together to create that magic. In addition to the DNA of Real Madrid in this competition. Everything has been added so that we reach this final and we can enjoy it… and hopefully win it.
Q. How do you classify your season? What analysis do you make of your game?
R. I am proud, I am happy. It wasn’t easy after the last two seasons. Carlo’s ownership and trust won me on the field. Whenever he has given it to me, I have responded on the field by scoring goals. They are my best statistics since I’ve been at Real Madrid. I’m proud, but I want more. I’m hungry for more stuff. I am on that line and I am going to continue on that line,
Q. Is he already the player from before the injury?
R. In this season I consider myself better. First, by numbers; afterwards because I feel that I have that maturity to face both good and bad situations. I try to keep that balance. Regarding that, I have improved a lot: confidence in myself, overcoming myself, knowing how to endure in bad and good moments… I think that this season has given all that, good moments, less good moments in which I have had fewer minutes. But that I have known how to take advantage of them when I have gone out to the field. That is why I feel that I am better than before the injury.
Q. Are you very demanding with Marco Asensio?
R. It may be that the demand that is placed on me is seen with different eyes. That I can’t control. I try to do my best. There are times when it seems hard to give credit to what I do, but that’s not my thing, that’s the perception that people have of me. My job is to do my best, like I’ve done this year. It is my best scoring season. I was the team’s third top scorer and that’s something that has helped a lot to win two titles this season… and hopefully the third.
Q. Your left leg is a whip.
A. Well, yes. It seems not, but it is something that is worked a lot. Then also hit him with the soul, with confidence. I have improved all of that since the injury, I have paid more attention to the videos in my hitting. Such beautiful goals are not a coincidence.
Q. Do you know how to score ugly goals?
R. [Risas] Well, I would like to score more ugly goals. I would like to achieve more and less pretty. In the end, it’s about finding that gap because the teams play very far back and you have to finish off from outside. This season, the truth is that some very nice goals have come out.
Q. Do you dream of doing one in Paris?
A. Logically. I hope to have the opportunity to help my team on the pitch, which is where I am best. I think I can help the team a lot.
P. That hand to the ear before the Alavs…
R. It came from a play in which I read it a little, but that did not end in a goal. I saw that the master was going to change me. I knew it could be the last of the match for me. At that time I just wanted the support, the affection of the fans for me and for the team. After the goal there was an explosion of joy. I wanted people to help us. It has been seen that when the Bernabu is plugged in, which is almost always, it leads us to come back and win Leagues, as has been seen.
P. Let’s talk about the future, you only have one year left on your contract.
R. Now I only think about the final. There is nothing else in my head. After the Champions we will see. I haven’t had any conversations with the club yet. The situation will be assessed and the best will be done for both parties.
Q. That does not venga Mbapp affect su renovacin?
A. I don’t know, because I haven’t talked to the club. There has always been competition here and that is not exactly that position either. But in this club the competition is inevitable. I am willing to fight anyone.
Q. Do you think Mbapp was coming?
R. As I have lived the experience of not knowing until the last moment where you are going to play, well I know that until you sign you cannot take anything for granted. You will have put in a balance the pros in the personal and professional field. We must respect their decision, because we all always seek the best.
Q. You have returned to the national team after not stepping on it since November 2020.
A. Very good news. I’m very happy. For me the selection is something very important. I enjoyed it a lot, because it is something very different from day to day with the club. Work for this to be something normal from now on.
Q. The truth is that almost every time Luis Enrique has been well, he has counted on you.
R. He is a great coach, as he has shown. He is perfect for the selection. He has trusted me and I am going to try to keep it that way.
Q. Do you understand what you said about casualties as a warning or as a challenge?
A. I like challenges. You see the whole statement and it says to seize the opportunity. It also happens here, they give you five minutes and you have to take advantage of them. What I do know is that if he has called me it is on my own merits, because I deserve it. I don’t have a doubt about that. Now I want to take advantage of it.
P. We are finishing. Which player do you see as decisive in the final against Liverpool?
R. It can be anyone. They have great players; us too You never know what can happen. I do know that we are all prepared to be decisive in bringing the Fourteenth. Hopefully we give it to the fans.
Q. And the last one. Where is the photo of him celebrating his goal in the Cardiff final, 4-1 against Juventus?
A. I have it at home framed, but not hung. It was something curious. She had doubts if she was going to enter the call, because only 18 entered, although she was fine in that final stretch. In an interview prior to the final I said that if I scored a goal I was going to celebrate it with my family. They were there, to the right. It was a super nice and super special moment for me.
