Asensio finishes first in the Cooper test organised by Dupont Real Madrid The forward is in great physical condition

When the Real Madrid players walked onto the training pitches in Montreal on Sunday, they encountered a surprise from fitness coach Gregory Dupont: the legendary Cooper test.

Before the squad were given a day off on Monday, Dupont had planned this endurance test to get the first set of physical data from his players after the first week of pre-season.

The point of the Cooper test, which was first created in 1968 for US military use, is to run as far as possible within 12 minutes. This activity enabled Dupont is to gauge the players' oxygen capacity during exercise.

The test was conducted at the start of training, with the 28 members of the squad taking part, and there was one clear winner: Marco Asensio. The forward was the player who ran the most meters in the 12 minutes, even surprising some of the coaches with his spectacular figures. Clearly Asensio is in good health and is physically capable of stepping up next season, following a disappointing campaign in 2018/19.

The summer helped Asensio to recharge his batteries. Collectively the Real Madrid squad knew that they underperformed, and individually the 23-year-old received criticism for the first time as a Madrid player. Asensio himself recognises that he underwhelmed last season and as such, he made an effort to use his summer break to physically and mentally prepare himself for a bounce-back year.

Zinedine Zidane instilled confidence in Asensio before the players went on their holidays, which was key in restoring his desire and ambition to succeed at the Estadio Santiago Bernabeu. The Frenchman believes that Asensio is one of the most talented players in the squad and, as a consequence, can become one of the best players in the world. Zidane has an abundance of faith in Asensio, though he told him that his quality is useless if it is not accompanied by work and sacrifice.

From what has been evident during the first few days of pre-season, it seems as though Asensio has taken note of Zidane's advice. In Montreal, he has looked motivated, happy, confident and determined to build on the work he has done over the summer. The endurance test on Sunday confirmed to the coaches that the forward has returned with a different mindset to last year; the best version of Marco Asensio is back.

Zidane and his assistants are glad that the player did not attend the European Under-21 Championship with Spain this summer, too. Asensio was harshly criticised for his decision, but another year without much time off would not have done him any good, physically or mentally. Rather, the player was able to focus on improving these aspects and, as shown during pre-season, this could be a great year for Asensio.