Recap & Highlights: Real Madrid Femenino Dispatch Fundación Albacete 8-0 In Preseason Friendly

Real Madrid continued their preparation for the 2020/21 season with an easy 8-0 victory over Fundación Albacete.

David Aznar selected a strong XI to start the game, lining his personnel up in a 4-3-3.

What resulted was forty-five minutes of domination. Las Blancas rotated the ball from side-to-side at speed and consistently found free space for Olga Carmona, Athenea del Castillo, Lucía Rodríguez, and Marta Cardona to attack.

That dynamic resulted in a goal 12 minutes in, when Claudia Zornoza calmly dispatched Cardona’s cutback.

Esther González came into her own after the opener, demonstrating an incredible level of activity that gave opposition defenders zero rest.

Just look at how she fights for a rebound to set up Maite Oroz’s goal and Madrid’s third of the game.

Then, in the 45th minute, Esther was right on hand to latch onto another rebound and score her second.

Aznar rotated the entire lineup in the second half, deploying his subs in a 4-2-3-1: Misa; Kenti Robles, Rocío Gálvez, Babett Peter, Marta Corredera; Marina Salas, Aurélie Kaci; Paula Partido, Lorena Navarro, Ariana Arias; Nahikari García [right to left].

The three bolded names are youth players, with Marina Salas being the one making her unofficial debut in the first team.

The vast rotations and the departure of several starters did lead to less pressure on Albacete’s box overall, but Madrid’s youngsters strutted their stuff and Las Blancas remained the dominant force.

In the 68th minute, Nahikari García’s excellent pressing created the fifth goal of the night and the first for Lorena Navarro.

Nahikari was soon rewarded for her unselfish play and finally notched her first goal in a white shirt — something many Madridistas have been aching for since day one. Note that Marina Salas delivered the set-piece.

Nahikari captured a brace in the 88th minute, connecting with Kenti’s cross powerfully.

Kaci made it 8-0 only seconds later.

This was a good, if easy, win for Real Madrid. It builds confidence, fitness, and chemistry prior to their fight to progress to the Champions League proper (remember, they still need to get past the qualifiers) and the start of the league season.

The three youngsters looked promising. Ariana Arias is an out-and-out striker who showed some quick feet and decent ball carrying on the wing; Paula Partido attacked off-the-dribble with confidence; and Salas showed class with the rock in open play and dead ball situations, even though she was guilty of one-too-many giveaways.