On Wednesday night, Raul Asencio is set to start for Champions League holders Real Madrid against Premier League leaders Liverpool at Anfield.
The 21-year-old centre-back made his full debut in Madrid’s 3-0 win against Leganes on Sunday, and over the weekend the club’s president, Florentino Perez, highlighted Asencio’s involvement with Carlo Ancelotti’s first-team squad in the speech that he gave at the general assembly.
Coverage in the Spanish media of his rise through the ranks at Madrid has, for the most part, been positive.
But Asencio will walk out at Anfield representing the most famous club in world football while under investigation — along with three other former Real Madrid youth players — for allegedly sharing a sex tape involving two women that was recorded in Gran Canaria last summer.
Those two women filed complaints and the three other players (Ferran Ruiz, 21, Juan Rodriguez, 22, and Andres Garcia, 21) were arrested in September 2023, with Asencio called to give testimony as a witness. After speaking to the Civil Guard (Spanish law enforcement), Asencio then became part of their investigation.
At the time, Real Madrid said that “a Castilla player and three Real Madrid C players” had made statements to the Civil Guard “in relation to a complaint…
