Player Ratings: Athletic Bilbao 1 - 3 Real Madrid Femenino

Real Madrid Femenino breezed past Athletic Club 3-1 on Sunday. Kosovare Asllani opened the scoring by tapping in a rebounded shot. Marta Cardona doubled the lead with a signature worldie and Kaci made it three with an excellent strike. Lucia Garcia notched a consolation goal after an Ivana Andrés mistake, but Las Leonas were unable to mount a comeback.

Player Ratings

Starting XI

Misa — 6/10: Misa wasn’t forced into much action. Ivana Andrés’ mistake allowed Lucía García to finish past Misa and the goalkeeper didn’t have much chance of stopping the strike. Misa also looked a little shaky throughout the match, fumbling a corner kick and bursting off her line and not fully getting to the ball.

Kenti Robles — 8.5/10: This was inarguably one of Robles’ best matches in the royal white. She bombed up and down the flank winning duels in attack and defense. Kenti constantly got forward and delivered dangerous crosses. She also ran forward to get on the end of service. Robles forced the keeper into a save and almost scored from a Sofia Jakobsson cross.

Babett Peter — 7/10: Peter had a quiet but solid match. She wasn’t forced into many heroic challenges but did what was required of her. Peter was unable to stop the cross that ultimately led to the goal but it would be extremely harsh to put any of the blame on her.

Ivana Andrés — 5.5/10: Ivana didn’t have a bad match. She was not her usual imperious self in defense and her mistake led to a goal, but she was confident in possession and had some nice moments on the ball.

Olga Carmona — 7.5/10: Olga Carmona caused problems for the Athletic Club defense throughout the match. She also caused them headaches when Las Leonas got forward, making a crucial intervention to deny them an opportunity. Olga provided the cross that kick-started the move that led to the first goal.

Aurélie Kaci — 7.5/10: Kaci was extremely energetic during the match. She got forward and tracked back well as she linked the midfield and the attack. Kaci added the third goal with a wonderful strike from the top of the 18-yard box.

Maite Oroz — 9.5/10: This was one of Real Madrid’s best performances of the year and that doesn’t happen without the midfield maestra Maite Oroz playing well. Oroz was dominant on and off the ball. She switched the point of attack, turned out of pressure, broke lines, and generally dictated everything that Las Blancas did. She also recovered possession well, with one of her retrievals leading to Kaci’s goal.

Teresa Abelleira — 7/10: Teresa paired well with Oroz in the middle of the park and helped dictate Las Blancas’ dominance. She looked dangerous on the turn and when she drove at the defense. Teresa’s final pass was just a tad off but she was influential throughout her 67 minutes of play.

Kosovare Asllani — 7.5/10: Asllani played at the point of the diamond in midfield. She did well to connect the midfield and offense, dropping deep to help Real Madrid build through the middle. Asllani was dangerous, getting on the end of crosses and carving out chances for others. She tapped in the first goal after reacting quickest to get to the rebounded shot.

Marta Cardona — 9/10: Cardona was involved as soon as the first whistle blew. She drove at defenders and got involved in quick one-twos to unlock the Athletic defense. Cardona made a dangerous run into the box and her shot was saved into the path of Asllani for the first goal. She scored a signature rocket for the second goal.

Sofia Jakobsson — 5.5/10: Jakobsson was predictably uninvolved given the 4-4-2 diamond formation and her winger tendencies. As the match progressed Jakobsson drifted wider and wider. She did have some nice moments when she got to the endline and crossed.

Substitutes

Marta Corredera — 6/10: Corredera was subbed on in the 67th minute for Teresa. She came in and played as a left winger. Corredera was involved in some nice moves but also gave the ball away too easily.

Lorena Navarro — 6.5/10: Lorena came on and had her usual impact. She was energetic and got involved in attack. The game became disjointed and Las Blancas were forced to defend, limiting her offensive freedom.

Jessica Martínez — 5.5/10: Jessica was introduced in the 79th minute for Marta Cardona. She didn’t get many touches and faced a similar problem to that of Lorena Navarro.

Claudia Florentino — N/A: Florentino came on in the 90th minute for Olga Carmona.