Match Review: Guijuelo 1-1 Real Madrid Castilla

After losing their last 2 games, Castilla were looking to bounce back this week against Guijuelo. The two sides were very evenly matched out in the table, with Castilla sitting just one place above their hosts for the week. The line-up was left offensively untouched as per Solari’s preference, but the defence included the underplayed Álex Martín and Jaime Sánchez. Manu Hernando was serving a suspension he gained after being sent off last week.

The game was played on artificial turf, and that could well have had a huge impact on how the game panned out. The play was hammy (if you can pardon the Guijuelo-related pun) for almost the entire game, with moments of quality seeping through. Perhaps the only real moment of quality the first half managed to produce was the Castilla goal towards the end. Luismi Quezada’s corner came in for José León to skilfully flick on to Óscar Rodríguez, who poked home. Castilla went into the break ahead, having just edged the play in the opening half.

The second half saw an improvement in the entertainment, but it was still by no means a memorable half. Castilla pushed for a second goal, but the longer they failed to find it, the stronger Guijuelo became. There were a few clear-cut chances missed at both ends, but neither defence really seemed otherwise tested. Towards the end of the game, the hosts were enjoying a lot of possession, and were almost throwing themselves forwards to salvage something from the game. With two minutes to go, the common Castilla follower feeling of disappointment was back again, after Guijuelo scrambled an equaliser into Belman’s goal from what looked like a clear offside position. By now, it was far too late for Castilla to save the victory, and they had used up all of their substitutions.

This was one of those games that gives you absolutely no inspiration to write about it whatsoever. With Solari’s Castilla - this is all too familiar. I did manage to piece together a few notes however:

Solari

His game plan was poor, and his substiution’s were even worse. Not one defensive change late on, and when the equaliser went in (which looked a certainty) he had already shown all of his cards. It has to be said that Solari’s rotation of his reasonably large squad is diabolical. He starts with nearly the exact same team every week, and when problems occur, he ignores them hoping that they will go away. Yes, the club are taking a childish stance on the Dani Gómez situation, but as Kiyan reminded me mid-game, Víctor Campuzano is still alive and well. Where has he been the last few weeks? With the team, watching on from the bench. The same can be said for dozens of names that barely get a look in on the team sheet. With nothing left to play for, what is Solari doing?

Belman and the defence

It was good to see Belman back in good spirits this game, after his really poor showing last time out. The defence also impressed me but that is nothing new. I’m unsure as to why Tejero was benched so that Álex Martín could play out of position again. Even on the occasion that Solari does rotate, he gets it wrong... Amazing. It was all looking pretty good for them right until the death...

Óscar Rodríguez

He may have scored, but I found Óscar to be really disappointing again today. He has been better in the second half of the season compared to the first, but he is still way off the mark if he wants to keep that Real Madrid dream alive. Another season at Castilla is on the cards for him, and it would be for the best, as a move away is too much of a challenge for him at the moment.

Another disappointing result concludes another disappointing week with Solari in charge. I’m also pretty mad as I went within two minutes of going joint top in the #CastillaStats fantasy league, but ended up going 7th, whilst Kiyan smugly shot up to 2nd... Man of the match was captain José León, who had a really solid game at the back for Castilla, and provided the assist for the goal, too. Next week, Castilla face relegation battling Pontevedra, and they will be looking to get back to winning ways in style.

Goal: Rodríguez

Assist: León

MOTM: León