Raúl Asencio Returns to Real Madrid Squad Under Mourinho
José Mourinho has his squad. And, at long last, he has Raúl Asencio back.
The Real Madrid coach announced his list for Saturday’s league trip to Rayo Vallecano, with the young Spanish defender returning after more than a month on the sidelines. It has been a long, messy road back.
Asencio returns after turbulent spell
Asencio has spent around six weeks out, first with a muscular problem in the rectus femoris, then with a setback involving his shin. He has not played a single minute under Mourinho yet. Not one.
That could change now.
Cleared to rejoin full training in recent days, Asencio completed the sessions normally in the build-up to the Rayo game. The medical staff signed off, Mourinho agreed, and his name is back on a Real Madrid squad list.
The timing matters. Madrid face a packed schedule, with league fixtures crammed into midweek slots. Mourinho has been short of options at centre-back. Asencio gives him another body, another profile, another decision to make.
A summer of headlines, on and off the pitch
His return also draws a line under a chaotic summer.
Before the injury, Asencio had been close to leaving the club. Talks over his future stalled the moment he went down hurt, freezing any potential move and leaving him in limbo.
Off the pitch, the spotlight only intensified. In recent days he learned of his acquittal in the case linked to a video in which he appeared. At the same time, a court found him guilty of driving under the influence of alcohol in Gran Canaria last August.
Mourinho did not hide his frustration. The coach publicly rebuked the defender, reminding him that “a Real Madrid player remains a Real Madrid player 24 hours a day” and warning that behaviour away from the training ground can damage both the individual and the club.
Now the noise quietens. Fit again, Asencio turns back to football, chasing something he still does not have under Mourinho: a real chance to play.
Key absences and full squad list
While Asencio comes in, three important names drop out. Éder Militão, Ferland Mendy and Rodrygo all miss the trip and are not included in the squad.
Mourinho’s list for the Rayo Vallecano clash:
- Goalkeepers: Courtois, Lunin, Sergio Mestre.
- Defence: Asencio, Huijsen, Trent Alexander-Arnold, Konaté, Cucurella, Carreras, Rüdiger, Dumfries.
- Midfield: Bellingham, Camavinga, Valverde, Tchouaméni, Arda Güler, Bernardo Silva, Thiago Pitarch.
- Attack: Vinícius, Endrick, Mbappé, Espí, Brahim Díaz, Diomandé.
For Asencio, it is simple now. The controversy, the courtrooms, the near-exit — all of it fades if he can turn this recall into minutes, and those minutes into a place in Mourinho’s plans.
