Asier Illarramendi - the intelligent Real Madrid midfielder who could give Barcelona hell

There was a lot of talk about Real Madrid’s transfer activity over the summer, as Florentino Perez dug deep into his pockets to strengthen a squad that failed by their lofty standards last season.

Gareth Bale caught the eye with his world record breaking transfer from Tottenham Hotspur and the signing of bright young Spanish starlet Isco has been backed up by his early season form for Los Blancos.

Flying slightly under the radar despite his own €35million move from Real Sociedad over the summer was Asier Illarramendi, with big things expected from the 23-year-old.

The young midfielder has been less involved than his fellow new arrivals at the Bernabeu, having played just two full games before his show-stopping performance against Juventus.

Illaramendi was in superb form despite his team-mates having an under par game against the reigning Italian champions, providing the platform for a solid defensive performance while the attacking compartment of the Real side struggled to find their form.

Asier Illarramendi Passes v Juventus (95% Pass Accuracy)

With over 20% of the match contested in the middle of the pitch, Illaramendi was heavily involved, completing 62 passes with an incredible success rate of 95%, completing one seventh of the total passes completed by Juve.

This proved to be far superior to the usually reliable Andrea Pirlo, with the Italian maestro completing just 39 passes as a success rate of just 75%.

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This helped Real control 54% of the possession and a pass completion rate of 91% as a team, despite the forward line being particularly wasteful.

He also won both of the tackles he attempted in the match, while he also made three interceptions, with his four defensive actions quadrupling his average total for the season so far and achieving 11% of the total defensive actions achieved by the whole Real Madrid side in the game.

Asier Illarramendi Tackles v Juventus

With Xabi Alonso ageing rapidly and his future clouded in doubt, with rumours of him leaving, the performance of Illaramendi will be of great interest to the management structure at Real.

Furthermore, with the El Classico on Saturday, Illarremendi could be a key asset, especially in a high-octane game where the midfield battle on and off the ball will be key.