"He paid the price for his bravery": a final attempt to save the Real Madrid star from the spectre of a long absence
Raúl Asencio is making one final attempt to avoid a lengthy spell on the sidelines.
The Real Madrid defender has already recovered from a quadriceps injury that sidelined him this season. Now the same leg is causing him trouble again.
This time it is his shin. He has been suffering from the condition since last season, and it has not healed as expected.
According to Marca, the situation forced the player to begin a fresh course of treatment. Asencio has already completed several sessions at Valdebebas, aiming to ease the tension and speed up the recovery of the injured area.
Should progress fall short, surgery becomes the alternative. That would rule him out for an expected six to eight weeks.
This problem has been building for a while. Leg injuries had already hampered the closing stretch of last season, when the Real Madrid squad was being ravaged by fitness issues.
Asencio refused to stop back then. The team needed defenders, so he took it upon himself to play despite the obvious risks. Asked whether he might sit out, he said: "I will not stop now, impossible."
It was as brave as it was reckless. The defender put his body on the line at a time when the team was in crisis.
The solution was a compromise that let him keep competing. Asencio underwent a minimally invasive treatment to remove abnormal cells from the scar tissue on his shin bone, where poorly healed bony growths had formed.
Healing proved insufficient and could have weakened the bone, threatening to turn the fissure into a fracture. The medical team chose a treatment that bought him time and avoided immediate surgery. Asencio carried on supporting the team.
Once the season ended, rest was the priority. The summer plan was simple: rest, recover, and give the area time to heal.
Doctors expected the shin bone to respond after months of intense activity. It did not. Asencio's condition worsened, and the shin bone once again threatened his season.
The quadriceps injury in the same leg may have aggravated the problem, forcing him to adjust his training load and exercises during pre-season.
Now the player faces one last attempt before a more drastic decision is taken. Treatment has already begun at Valdebebas, and he has completed the first sessions. The aim is to relieve the pressure on the injured area and let it heal without surgery.
Even so, the chances are slim. If the treatment fails, Asencio will need surgery and will be out for around two months.
