Match report: Real Madrid Castilla 1-0 Burgos!

This could potentially be the last game before the return of Santiago Solari, and whilst the Argentinian has had four fixtures to prove his worth - the Castilla caretaker boss Manolo Díaz has had a mere two. His second and final chance to impress before the big decision is to be made came today, against struggling side Burgos. The side were without captain Javier Sánchez and star man Vinícius Júnior as they continued to answer the first teams call’s. In their place stepped up Jorge De Frutos, and the returning Manu Hernando. The rest of the team looked pretty standard:

This game was played at an incredibly slow pace. Castilla didn’t look any worse off, but just seemed to be doing their thing half as fast. In the first half they really made their mark on the game, looking to dominate the proceedings. They were rewarded for their efforts early on when Sergio López looked to pass forwards, and Cristo González provided a flick on for Franchu. Franchu had it all to do, and beautifully curled a first time strike into the bottom corner to break the deadlock! The visitors did provide some danger, but Luca Zidane looked really sharp and dealt with whatever came his way. In the second half it was a different story. Castilla very quickly began to look fatigued, and Burgos began to impose themselves more and more. Zidane continued to hold strong, and he had to as their pursuit for a result lasted until the very last seconds. Castilla managed to drag it over the line and claim all three points!

The game was as brief as that! As the match was so brief, I see this as a good opportunity to go over some of the comments I missed last week. I try and reply to every good comment on every article, but this month is a busy one! That being said I did look back and there were some excellent relevant comments left on the last article that I think deserve to be discussed.

Who’s managing Castilla now?

Ex-Castilla manager Manolo Díaz has been given the emergency caretaker position. He was the boss during the 2013/14 LaLiga2 season. He did have a marginally better ratio than Solari, but did get Castilla relegated that season. If it helps shift Solari from the position it will have to do.

Rodrygo is coming in winter?

There’s been a lot of talk about this recently, but the answer is at the moment: I don’t know. Vinícius Júnior has used Castilla to transition to the country and the culture and everything surrounding his new life very well, so it seems like there’s a good chance they may try the exact same thing out with Rodrygo. That being said Castilla are already morally in the wrong by far, adding another young player bought for an extreme fee and we will be past the point of no return. We will see.

Do you think Cristo has what it takes to be in the first team in the future?

Not really, but he is undoubtedly talented and will play at a top level in the future. I do want to see him handed a few more first team opportunities this season.

Photo by Denis Doyle/Getty Images

Castilla are still lingering around the play-off spots, and on the pitch it seems very little has changed since Solari left for the caretaker roll. There edging closer to that 40 point safety mark, but until then you know the drill! Now that I’ve had a taste of life without Solari, I’m good to keep things how they are. I see Solari getting promoted to the first team full time as a win-win. Either he brings a shed load of black magic with him and Real Madrid win loads of trophies, or he carries on his reign of tyranny and has no other option but to finally receive the boot. Either-way, Castilla will be freed and the possibilities will once again be very bright! Man of the match tonight was Álvaro Fidalgo, who was everywhere for Castilla, and ran his socks off. He was still looking as fresh as a daisy, even when his teammates looked to be down and out in the second half. Next week Castilla play Salmantino, and will once again be the favourites! I’ll be making sure I go back to usual and reply to all of the comments, so make sure to leave your thoughts down below!