Scouting Notebook: Talented Borja Mayoral Is the Perfect Karim Benzema Backup
Throughout the 2016-17 season, Real Madrid were shot jealous looks from counterparts across the continent for a number of reasons. Success was one thing, but managing it in such a swashbuckling style, sweeping top-tier opponents away with pizzazz, was quite another.
As the campaign wore on, Los Blancos got better and better. Cristiano Ronaldo assumed full game-winner mode, and the midfield and defence looked frighteningly fresh. How, after 60-plus games, did they look so fit and fast in the UEFA Champions League final?
The key was a deep squad and willful rotation by Zinedine Zidane, both in La Liga and in Europe. The Frenchman had a clear first-choice XI, with the only change to it throughout the season being Isco in for Gareth Bale, but still handed in excess of 1,000 Liga minutes to six depth options, including the likes of Mateo Kovacic, Danilo and Marco Asensio.
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Every position was backed up; Real Madrid could (and at times did) field a “B” team that would still wipe the floor with most sides in Europe. Even the tricky striker position boasted depth, with the brilliant Alvaro Morata (15 league goals) the stand-in for Karim Benzema.
But even Real Madrid can’t keep all of those players happy, and a number of depth options were sold off this summer for a big profit. Morata was one of them, netting them an enticing sum, but that removed the presence of a natural goalscorer who could rescue certain situations and carry the pressures of starting up front for an elite club.
That was a concern heading into the season, and fears were realised pretty early when Benzema sustained an injury that will reportedly keep him out for between four to six weeks. With Cristiano Ronaldo suspended, too, what solution would Zidane magic up?
Enter Borja Mayoral.
The 20-year-old scored his first senior goal for Los Blancos on Sunday, setting his team on course for an impressive 3-1 win at Anoeta against Real Sociedad. An opportunistic run into the box as Sergio Ramos was tripped over by his own momentum resulted in a free strike at a loose ball, and it was promptly buried. Elation followed.
Making a goalscoring start can’t harm your stock, but in typical Mayoral fashion, his performance did not centre on just sticking the ball in the net. His all-round showing was fantastic, producing the kind of complete performance those who caught his UEFA Youth League and Castilla games are so used to seeing.
He’s far closer, stylistically speaking, to Benzema than Morata was, and you can see that in the way he drops off the forward line to link play and join the midfield. He dropped himself into the thick of Isco, Luka Modric and Marco Asensio’s complex, quick combinations, and after an iffy first 10 minutes, he found the rhythm and helped move the ball around fast.
After his opening goal, he forced the second (an own goal) with a clever bit of play having been sent through to face the last man one-on-one. The passage highlighted a slight weakness in his game (a lack of top-end speed) but also showed he’s capable of thinking on his feet.
That he eventually became just another moving part in this rhythmic, free-flowing Real Madrid attack is an immense compliment. By the time the second half came round, he was splitting wide on the blind side of defenders to receive passes and linking smoothly with his midfielders.
It calls into question what on earth happened last season, where Mayoral was sent to the frequently self-destructing VfL Wolfsburg on loan. He sort of wasted a year, making a paltry three Bundesliga starts for a team who ended up surviving relegation via a play-off.
You can’t blame a team in that situation for abandoning young loanees and turning to more experienced, in-house alternatives, but it felt like poor planning from Real Madrid. Look at what Mayoral is capable of!
But with that in the rear-view mirror, the Spaniard can focus on what could be a breakthrough senior season with the reigning European champions; such an encouraging debut can only lead to another chance. Benzema’s not even two weeks into a month-long-plus absence, and while Ronaldo is set to return from suspension, the upcoming gauntlet of three games in six days should yield more playing time for Mayoral.
He deserves it; he’s good enough to play for Real Madrid, at least in a rotational role, and the fact he’s so similar to Benzema means there have been few teething issues when integrating him into the side.
No one’s expecting him to oust the Frenchman as the starting striker, but if Zidane can throw him 600 minutes, Mayoral can finally start realising the potential he’s flashed so blatantly over the last two years.
All statistics via WhoScored.com
