Raúl Asencio was fully acquitted in the explicit-video case, but the noise around him has not gone away. The incident centred on a June 2023 beach-club video in the Canary Islands, and prosecutors later withdrew their case. The court said the ruling was final, yet Jose Mourinho was still framing the issue as a Real Madrid problem, not just an old court file.
Mourinho keeps Asencio in the squad picture
Speaking to goal.com, Mourinho said: "While the proceeding is open I see him as a Real Madrid player. He's injured and will continue to be sidelined for a couple of weeks. That helps me not to have to deal with this problem now."
That line matters because Asencio’s current injury is already keeping him out, and Mourinho is not treating him like someone who has been pushed to the edge of the squad. He is still part of the working picture at Real Madrid, even with the disciplinary process unresolved inside the club.
The club have a separate issue to deal with as well. Asencio was fined €14,400 and handed an eight-month driving ban after the drink-driving conviction, and that is the sort of off-field problem Mourinho was pointing at when he said: "Everything you do outside your professional sphere still reflects on Real Madrid and continues to damage the reputation of a club whose standing must not be undermined."
The separate sanction keeps the pressure on
Miguel Torres has taken a harder line on that side of the story. He told Madrid Universal: "Driving in that state can put other people at risk. I wouldn’t call for his immediate dismissal, but obviously I believe he should be given the opportunity to rectify his mistake. He needs a strong sanction."
Torres also argued that "In football and at this level, the financial side often doesn’t solve the problems." That is a fair pushback against the idea that a fine alone settles the issue. Real Madrid have not announced a final disciplinary outcome, and the fact that Asencio has already made 80 appearances across all competitions since his promotion shows why this is a proper first-team problem, not a fringe-player distraction.
His recent on-pitch involvement has been steady enough too. He has played 447 minutes across his last five matches, with an average rating of 6.8 in that run, while also scoring 2 goals since his promotion. The football side has not collapsed, which is probably why Mourinho is still speaking about him as an available player while the club’s process continues.
What remains is the separate punishment and the club’s response. The explicit-video case is over, but Asencio’s drink-driving sanction and Real Madrid’s open disciplinary file are still live issues.
Written by Daniel Hartley with AI-assisted research, cross-checked against 5 outlets. How we work →
