Ranking Real Madrid's 8 Spanish Players on Form so Far This Season
Real Madrid's season is only a few months old and yet already they have hit a few peaks and troughs, with injuries and rotations meaning manager Zinedine Zidane is still yet to really field a consistent side with any regularity.
The squad is large and varied, as befits a team challenging for major honours on all fronts, yet a core of it is also made up this term from a contingent of Spanish nationals, which hasn't always been the case for Los Blancos in recent seasons.
Here, we focus exclusively on those homegrown players and rank them according to performances this season in the Real Madrid shirt, based solely on their time on the field rather than whether they are picked regularly to start or not.
8. Sergio Ramos, Centre-Back
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There's no easy way to put it for a player who has won the lot and is something of an idol at the club—as well as the first-team captain—but Sergio Ramos has had an abysmal start to the season.
Individual errors, lapses of concentration and his overly aggressive stance when it's least needed are all to blame, and then on top of everything else, he has suffered a recent injury.
He has already given away three penalties for Los Blancos this season, and his goals at the other end shouldn't mask or paper over what have been concerning times for a player as respected as he is. Ramos needs to come back far more consistent and impressive for Madrid after his enforced absence and show why he has emerged as such a leader.
7. Kiko Casilla, Goalkeeper
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Second-choice goalkeeper Kiko Casilla started the season between the sticks on account of Keylor Navas' continued injury lay-off, and he has played nine times this term as a result.
With an underperforming defence in front of him, it was never going to be easy to make a huge case for himself to remain the undisputed first choice. He never remotely looked likely to give Zidane a big decision with a series of uncertain and average-at-best performances.
There was the odd save that impressed, and two clean sheets in La Liga, but from eight successive matches, that was hardly noteworthy. He doesn't give the same aura of assurance that Keylor does and has nowhere near the Costa Rican's level of athleticism, and he's back to No. 2 as a result.
6. Isco, Attacking Midfielder
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It took a while for Isco to get going this season as rotations affected him more than the likes of James Rodriguez initially, but his last two or three performances have been steps in the right direction.
Often appearing far less inclined to track back and do his defensive duties than other midfield options significantly harms Isco's chances of getting more playing time; Madrid have all the offensive talent in the world but have always needed that balance in the other direction, and Isco doesn't offer it.
That said, playing as a true No. 10 against Las Palmas showcased how he can impact matches, and a run of three league starts in a row might be an indication that better times are ahead...or it could be because Luka Modric has been out injured.
5. Nacho Fernandez, Defender
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Nacho hasn't had much of a look-in other than to cover at left-back, but he hasn't put in anything other than good performances this season.
At centre-back in the Copa del Rey on Wednesday night, he was more assured than his positional rivals have been in the bigger games this term. He also offered plenty going forward from full-back earlier in the season, not just standing in place on the side of the back four.
Loyal perhaps to a fault, Nacho isn't going to see significant game time unless Zidane makes a bold, brave change in defence, but the Spanish defender rarely lets his team down.
4. Dani Carvajal, Right-Back
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On the right side of defence, Dani Carvajal has been hit-and-miss this season so far.
He opened up Real Madrid's campaign in the best way by assisting the first goal of the season for Gareth Bale inside six minutes at Real Sociedad, and scored in the UEFA Super Cup, but there have also been games when his bursting runs forward have been ill-timed or with no end product and his defensive awareness has been sorely lacking.
Consistency is usually part of Carvajal's game and a reason why he usurped Danilo for the spot on a regular basis, and he needs to rediscover that soon. He's far from the biggest problem in Real's regular XI, but he's not at his usual level just yet either.
3. Lucas Vazquez, Winger
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Super-sub, the relied-upon man and game-changer in both directions: Lucas Vazquez is a managerial favourite, but he lacks the stellar quality to be Real Madrid regular.
He can come on to impact a match offensively, stretch play, get behind the opposition defence and deliver balls into the box, or he can be a defensive switch, working back tirelessly, doubling up against his opponent with a full-back and allowing Madrid to block up midfield.
Lucas has had the odd notable cameo this season, but starts have been hard to come by. He's one of the first names Zidane turns to on the bench, though, and that will keep him involved throughout the season.
2. Alvaro Morata, Striker
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Alvaro Morata has six goals to date for Real Madrid, a goal every 105 minutes, on average, which is far from a bad return for a striker who has had to come in and out of the team to accommodate the lumbering, unfit Karim Benzema.
Morata's work rate and constant running of the channels have merited more than the time on the pitch he has been offered so far, in fairness, and more than once, he has already proven a saviour for his team—notably against Sporting CP in the UEFA Champions League and at the weekend against Athletic Club in La Liga.
The striker should start more often, can help bring out the best in other players and clearly has huge desire to succeed at the Santiago Bernabeu—but he has also had a few stinkers of the kind the Madrid fans do not expect or allow from a star striker. Consistency, as ever, is key.
1. Marco Asensio, Attacking Midfielder
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There's little doubt about the top-performing Spaniard at the club this season: Marco Asensio, the 20-year-old attacking midfielder who is, along with Morata, the top scorer in the squad with six goals.
Asensio hit the ground running this term after returning from a loan at Espanyol and wowed the Bernabeu with creative play in the final third, excellent technique and a few golazos from range for good measure.
It isn't easy for a young player—a truly young one, not a 24-year-old such as Morata this year or Lucas last season—to break into the Madrid side, but Asensio has done everything possible to remain involved, be given significant game time and show Zidane he can impact both in central midfield and further forward in the attacking line.
So far, he's the star of the Spanish players at Real Madrid, and perhaps that says as much about others' inconsistencies as it does regarding Asensio's talent.
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