Real Madrid 2-0 Eibar: Match statistics
It's been well over two years since Marco Asensio was a protagonist at Real Madrid.
But there are signs that the winger is ready to play a major role in the most important part of the club's 2020-21 campaign.
Ahead of a massive week for the Blancos, which features clashes with Liverpool and Barcelona, Asensio made it three goals in his last three games with the opener in Saturday's crucial 2-0 victory over Eibar, which drew Zinedine Zidane's side to within three points of Liga leaders Atletico Madrid.
It was just reward for an enterprising display which suggested that maybe, just maybe, the Spaniard has rediscovered both his confidence and best form after a couple of seasons hindered by injury.
The football news cycle moves so fast these days that it's easy to forget that Asensio was regarded as one of the game's most exciting attackers before suffering an ACL tear in his left knee in July 2019 that sidelined him for almost a year.
Indeed, just a couple of months before, Asensio's agent, Horacio Gaggioli, had even declared that Madrid had turned down an offer of €180 million (£155m/$200m) for his client.
Such claims should always be taken with a pinch of salt, of course, but there is no denying that, at the time, the Mallorcan's market value was enormous.
This was a 23-year-old Spain regular going from strength to strength after famously scoring in his first appearances in five different competitions for Madrid.
The injury changed everything, though.
Asensio made a sensational return, scoring seconds after coming on in last year's Liga win at Valencia before then teeing up Karim Benzema for a goal.
Getty/Goal
However, he struggled, understandably, to maintain any great level of consistency during the tail end of the season. He didn't look anything like the player who had hit double figures in both 2016-17 (10 goals) and 2017-18 (11).
A minor knee problem then saw him miss the start of the current campaign but even when he belatedly got under way, he never really got going, failing to find the back of the net once before the turn of the year.
Asensio, though, has suddenly caught fire, netting twice off the bench in the recent wins over Atalanta, in the Champions League, and Liga rivals Celta.
He was rewarded with a start against Eibar and delivered his most impressive performance in months.
A player that had become a source of frustration to fans because of his habit of disappearing from games, proved a consistent threat.
Asensio had already hit the woodwork with a free kick and seen an ingenious back-heeled goal disallowed by VAR for offside, when he opened the scoring with a cool first-half finish.
He could have scored again, too, but an excellent effort from distance was beaten away to safety by Marko Dmitrovic.
As it was, it was left to Karim Benzema to seal three precious points in the title race with a textbook downward header from an inviting Vinicius Junior cross.
Asensio had been taken off by then, alongside Luka Modric, with coach Zidane clearly having one eye on Tuesday's Champions League quarter-final first-leg clash with Liverpool, and next Saturday's Clasico.
Asensio's injury history will also have been a factor in the Frenchman's decision.
But the good news is that Asensio finally looks fit and confident enough to once again take centre stage for Madrid.