Real's fifth-highest scorer Jesé knocking on the door
The canterano found the net from the bench against Sevilla and only has Ronaldo, Benzema, Bale and James ahead of him in scoring charts.
Jesé has found pitch time hard to come by this season but not because of any lack of effort on the Real Madrid youth product’s part. Against Sevilla, Zinedine Zidane sent the forward on with five minutes to play and he got on the score sheet for his fifth of the season, taking him to fifth in the scoring charts at the club this season behind Cristiano Ronaldo (41), Karim Benzema (24), Gareth Bale (15) and James Rodríguez (6). After his goal on Sunday night, Jesé has overtaken Isco (4) despite enjoying a third of the pitch time his Málagan teammate has been given.
Jesé has been a fringe player under Zidane, as he was when Rafa Benítez was in the Bernabéu dugout. This season he has played 867 minutes, more only than back-up keeper Kiko Casilla (450) and defender Álvaro Arbeloa (427). In that time, Jesé has hit the back of the net every 173 minutes.
It has not been an easy season for Real Madrid’s number 20, who has alternated between periods of relevance due to injuries to teammates to lead the line against Celta, where he provided an assist for Danilo, and against PSG and Roma, when he sealed a 2-0 victory in the Stadio Olimpico, with controversial moments such as his gestures in the Bernabéu after scoring against Celta.
Jesé has also been usurped in the bench pecking order by Lucas Vázquez. With the BBC back together and clicking like they did against Sevilla, coupled with the form of Vázquez and the shadow of James, Jesé’s opportunities are likely to remain thin on the ground but the canterano is giving Zidane something to ponder with his goal return.