Real Madrid youngster could make national team debut this weekend – report | OneFootball

The ongoing international break see Europe’s finest teams play it off in the UEFA Nations League for a place in the semifinal of the event.

Unlike previous editions, the quarterfinals are being held over two legs this time around and Luis de La Fuente’s La Roja see themselves pitted against the Netherlands.

The manager left Raul Asencio out of the squad for the first game which took place last night despite the Real Madrid star being with the team. Ahead of the second game, matters have changed.

Debut on the cards

As relayed by OK Diario, Asencio is set to make his debut for the Spanish national team later this week in the team’s second game against the Dutch side.

With the player being excluded from the first game and the second one being a virtual knockout, not many expected Asencio’s turn to come in the ongoing international break.

Spain debut on the horizon? (Photo by Carl Recine/Getty Images)

However, the injury to Barcelona’s Pau Cubarsi, who started earlier this week, might change the manager’s plans with special caution being exercised over Cubarsi’s fitness.

Asencio, thus, is likely to make an appearance off the bench at least during the second leg this weekend but it is safe to say that it will all boil down to the match situation.

After all, Netherlands and Spain sit in a stalemate with no goals separating them 90 minutes into the two-legged quarterfinal.

So far this season, Asencio has been rock solid at the back for the Merengues and has ten league starts to his name with three clean sheets. Given his numbers, a debut for the national team is almost a given.