Player Ratings: UD Granadilla Tenerife 1 - 1 Real Madrid

Real Madrid’s start to the domestic season has been far from ideal with two crushing defeats and a draw in the opening three fixtures. Las Blancas have managed to score just once in the process. The away trip to Canary Islands wasn’t an improvement over the last league performances, as Madrid struggled to build from the back or have any sort of control over proceedings.

Madrid lined up in a 4-4-2 with Asllani alongside Esther up top and Claudia Florentino playing as the defensive midfielder alongside Zornoza in a double pivot. Ivana was surprisingly sat on the bench, with Rocío Gálvez and Peter as the CB duo. Corredera started at RB and Lucía filled in at LB in the opening half.

Ange Koko scored a goal in the 24th minute after a brilliant first touch to beat Lucía. It wasn’t until the 85th minute that Madrid would find their equalizer thanks to a deflection off the legs of Patricia Gavira from an Esther header.

Madrid looked laborious in their build-up and struggled heavily against Granadilla’s high press. The defensive organization and communication on set-pieces were poor, something that hasn’t really improved since last year. While there were good moments individually on the offensive end of things, Madrid didn’t generate any real danger.

Player ratings

Misa - 6/10

Misa didn’t have the best of games. On defensive set-pieces some of her decision-making was quite poor and she looked less assured coming off of her line as well.

Marta Corredera - 5.5/10

Marta Corredera had a rough evening, with Martín-Prieto constantly getting the best of her via her runs into the channels. Corredera was pretty poor in defensive 1v1 situations and didn’t offer much going forward either.

Rocío Gálvez - 6.5/10

Rocío was good on the ball. It was her long ball to Olga that resulted in the cross that led to the equalizer for Madrid. Defensively, she struggled a bit keeping up with Martin-Prieto, who is fairly dominant physically.

Babett Peter - 6.5/10

Babett looked better in defensive situations and dealt with the threat of Martin-Prieto better compared to Rocío, but the German didn’t help Madrid in possession. She launched lofted balls under pressure, often resulting in turnovers.

Lucía Rodríguez- 5.5/10

Lucía struggled playing as the LB. She failed to have any sort of positive impact on the game. On the goal conceded by Madrid, Lucía was beaten all ends up by the first touch of Koko and the fullback struggled in isolations overall. Offensively, Lucía was limited as a result of having to play on the opposite flank.

Claudia Florentino - 5.5/10

Deployed as the defensive midfielder in the double pivot alongside Zornoza, Claudia struggled to get a foothold in the game and meet the demands of the position through her positioning and passing. She lunged into challenges but didn’t win the ball, leaving Madrid susceptible on the break.

Claudia Zornoza - 5/10

Zornoza had a really sloppy game in the middle of the pitch. She played a lot of loose passes and often gave away possession when put under pressure by Granadilla. Her set-piece deliveries were okay but the Spaniard didn’t really have a positive impact on the game.

Olga Carmona - 7/10

Olga’s performance improved as the game went on. Starting at left wing, she contributed defensively and helped Lucía out a fair bit and made some good runs. Towards the closing period of the game, she played as a LWB and put in a peach of a ball to create the equalizer.

Athenea del Castillo - 7/10

Athenea in her time on the pitch did what she does best — drive forwards with the ball and take on players. She got another nutmeg for her collection in the second half and often looked like Madrid’s most threatening option in attack.

Kosovare Asllani - 7/10

Asllani’s time was cut short due to an injury scare after a hard tackle in the first half. Asllani playing as part of the front two and looked good with her pressing and reception on the turn. However, she lacked precision on her final balls.

Esther González - 6.5/10

Despite causing the deflection that led to the goal, it wasn’t a very good game from Esther. She often took a touch too many before releasing the ball. In the opening half hour of the game, Madrid had an opportunity on the break with Olga making a run on the flank, but Esther didn’t play her through; instead, she cut inside to find a central option, which allowed Granadilla to disrupt the play.

Substitutes

Lorena Navarro - 8/10

Lorena had a clear impact on both ends of the pitch after coming on to replace Asllani at halftime. She was fluid with her movements, appearing in the right positions to pick up possession and provide support. She added a zest to Real Madrid’s passing and was good when taking on players as well. Lorena was the best performer of the game.

Maite Oroz - 7/10

Maite made her anticipated return to first team action coming on to replace Claudia Florentino in the 60th minute of the game. Her presence brought slight improvements for Madrid in possession but it was clear that the Spaniard was rusty returning from injury. Despite that, Madrid looked better on the ball with her on the pitch.

Caroline Møller - 6/10

Caroline Møller Hansen came on to replace Athenea in the 69th minute. She started out on the wings but then moved inside and attacked the box as Madrid looked to find a target for crosses. She was largely anonymous, having a few flashes here and there when she got to touch the ball.

Kenti Robles - 6.5/10

The Mexican was brought on in the 77th min and the change of shape from Madrid meant that she was deployed in a more attacking role. She bombed down the flank and put in some decent deliveries from the right.

Ivana Andrés - 7/10

Ivana’s introduction saw Madrid shift to a back 3 system. Ivana’s presence and ground coverage allowed for the fullbacks to turn into wing-backs and venture forward. Her introduction in the 77th minute started a series of Madrid attacks that eventually led to a goal-scoring opportunity

---

Madrid will look to shake off these string of bad results and build some momentum going into the coming fixtures, as there isn’t much slack to give in the race for the Champions League spots. Las Blancas will also be hoping to get their injured players back soon.