Real Madrid Castilla 1-1 CDA Navalcarnero

Castilla had won 1 game in 5 attempts, and were in desperate need of some better form to help them with their play off push. Today they hosted CDA Navalcarnero, a mid-table team in similar form. It was a different set up today for Castilla, who had to deal with a few absentees in the squad. For this reason, u19s player Carlos Cobo was called in at left back to make his Castilla debut. Víctor Campuzano was to start up top with Sergio Díaz and Martin Ødegaard either side, and Enzo sitting in behind them. Javier Sánchez was also awarded a rare start at centre back.

The game started off dull, and didn't show many signs of changing... Sergio Díaz livened the mood up a bit with some trademark dribbles, but apart from that the half was very forgetful. Castilla were the much better side though, and took the lead 20 minutes in when a great Achraf cross found the head of Javier Sánchez to score his first Castilla goal! 1-0, looking pretty good. The game opened up a tad after this, and Castilla continued to push on. It looked like the makings of a high scoring victory, but that all changed when Febas broke away, beat 3, but latched onto a heavy touched and went in on a Navalcarnero defender. The referee showed him a straight red card, reducing Castilla to 10 men. This did not phase the players however, as they continued to be on top. Half time arrived and Castilla went in with a deserving lead.

The game restarted and Castilla were on top from the off, they used the ball really intelligently, and took the game to Navalcarnero. 10 minutes in, it all went even more wrong... Debutante Cobo, who had already picked up a yellow card in the first half, lunched in on an opponent giving the referee no choice but to send him off. Castilla were down to 9 men... It became obvious that Castilla needed to focus on defending the lead now, and that's exactly what they attempted to do. It was going okay until Navalcarnero won a free kick on the edge of the box... The taker placed it perfectly into the top corner past Abad to give Navalcarnero the equaliser. It looked very uphill for Castilla, who brought on Cedrés and Tena as defensive reinforcements (they were the best options we had available defensively...). Navalcarnero still didn't look to threaten too much, and Castilla enjoyed some decent spells of possession, and had a few chances to get the winner. Fede Valverde was everywhere. In the end they had to hold out and settle for a draw, as the game ended 1-1.

So another disappointing draw... Castilla somehow stay at 7th place in the table, but can go down to 8th if results don't go their way. Things are going to have to change and fast, because if they keep on going like this, then their season could take a nose dive and start to become a nightmare. Man of the match was Fede Valverde who pulled off his best performance so far in a Madrid shirt... He was absolutely everywhere and took charge of the team. A vital reason to why Castilla even got a point. Castilla return away to Mensajero next week with the aim of finally getting a win! At least El Clásico didn't disappoint, eh?

Goal: J Sánchez

Assist: Achraf

MOTM: Valverde