Immediate Reaction: Granada 2 - 5 Real Madrid; Liga F

Tough 3 points against a newly promoted Granada side. Real Madrid won 2-5 in Granada with the goals of Athenea, Feller, Toletti and Bruun. Below are my thoughts and views on the match.

Grid View

• Real Madrid XI
• Granada XI
• Bench

Another experimental lineup from Alberto Toril to preserve energy for the second leg of the Champions League qualifiers. With Misa on goal, and Kathellen on CB, the rest of the defense was entirely changed as Svava and Kenti replaced Olga and Oihane on the fullbacks, and Ivana started instead of Rocío. Teresa and Zornoza played alongside Linda on the #10 role, while Feller led the attack with Athenea and Raso on the sides.

Even though the scoreline might not show it, the match didn’t miss any drama and wasn’t as easy to bring the 3 points home. The first ten minutes were quite monotone, without any shots. Granada weren’t letting Las Blancas create danger near their penalty area, at least until 13’.

13’ GOAL by Athenea del Castillo (0-1)! Linda managed to get the ball to Athenea before she got entirely surrounded. There Athenea had to make a turn and decided to shoot to make it 0-1.

The first half in general didn’t have many conclusions. Both teams were going for the win, Granada were looking for an equalizer and sometimes they would manage to create danger going past Real Madrid’s defense. Toward the end of the first half, Granada takes advantage of the confusion created in the box.

37’ GOAL (1-1)! Edna Imade sent the cross into the box from the left to the far post where Suárez was. She tried to push it in but Misa saved it. The ball fell down where Suárez was determined to push the ball into the net with her head. That grounded header was pushed through Ivana’s legs which made the goal ultimately be given to Ivana as own goal.

Hayley Raso had a late chance which was saved by Romero. With that, the first half ended without Las Blancas succeeding to regain the lead at halftime.

There were no changes after the first 45 minutes. Four minutes in, there’s another goal.

49’ GOAL by Naomie Feller (1-2)! Teresa passed through to Athenea for her to try to run it to the goal, but the defense intervened. In that moment, Feller was running in with the intention to get the ball into the net but before that would happen, she met Romero who tried to catch the ball while entangled between Feller’s legs. Finally, the French woman pushed the ball in.

56’ GOAL by Edna Imade (2-2)! Teresa stalled in clearing the cross Suárez tried to make into the box, but IMade took the ball from Abelleira and made no mistakes.

A minute later, Alberto Toril made two changes - Bruun and Toletti replaced Athenea and Raso. This made the match a lot more dynamic and made Real Madrid look fresher. The attacks by Las Blancas went much smoother and more often.

67’ GOAL by Sandie Toletti (2-3)! Feller’s cross from the right fell perfectly onto Toletti’s foot putting it to regain Madrid’s lead for the 3rd and final time.

69’ GOAL by Sandie Toletti (2-4)! Despite the mess in Granada’s penalty area, Linda did a cheeky backheel pass to Toletti who was running into the box and shot it in. Two goals off the bench for Sandie Toletti to destroy Granada’s hopes in tying for the third time, not bad.

Caicedo was put on the #10 role since the beginning, but she never looked like she had any problems. She’d find a way to get the ball through a tight space which was the main source of Real Madrid’s attacks. Carla Camacho went in for the last 7 minutes on the encounter, to play alongside Bruun with a bit of a wider central role than Bruun’s. She continues to show good things on pitch but she still doesn’t manage to win more minutes with the manager. At this point of the match, Granada were defeated, and the match went on in Madrid’s favor.

89’ GOAL by Signe Bruun (2-5)! Similar to the third goal of the match, Feller’s cross from the right side fell perfectly onto Bruun’s head who head no problems scoring for 2-5.

All in all, a very chaotic game, with 3 points taken back home to Madrid in the end. This game wasn’t missing defensive problems either which is becoming more concerning with each passing game of this season.