Immediate Reaction: Club America 3 - 2 Real Madrid; Women’s Friendly

The 3-2 loss on Estadio Azteca against Club America is where Real Madrid’s preparations for the upcoming season end. Below are my thoughts on the match.

Alberto Toril made some changes in attack and one detail in the midfield from the last game. The defense stayed the same: Svava and Kenti on full-backs and Rocío and Kathellen in the middle, with Chavas on goal. Instead of Freja, this time Zornoza starts with Weir and Maite in midfield. Lastly, Bruun is now accompanied by two wingers on her sides - Athenea and Linda.

The first half wasn’t good, to put it lightly. Las Blancas didn’t manage to do anything concrete in attack. America would shut down every attempt at going up. The first 45 minutes were mostly played on Real’s half of the pitch.

In 15’ something happened that could already be seen coming. Angelica got the ball after a failed pass back by Kathellen which Rocío couldn’t catch either. Another fifteen minutes later, the foul given away by Maite was converted from the direct freekick by Hecnary.

Nothing much changed until the end of the first half. The scoreline stayed 2-0 for Club America.

At halftime, Feller, Freja and Toletti got in for Bruun, Zornoza and Maite. Real Madrid started going up more but still without major changes seen on pitch; except that there was more control in the midfield with Toletti on. Oihane getting on at 52’ for Kenti gave the team a new atmosphere. She would combine with Linda and cross into the box. Two of Oihane’s crosses directly found a head in the penalty area but neither of the two header attempts were convincing enough. Another interesting detail from this substitution is that with the exit of Kenti, the captain’s armband was passed onto Caroline Weir.

In 58’, after the pass back from Rocío to Chavas, the goalkeeper complicated too much and Katty Martínez took the opportunity to steal the ball and put it in for 3-0.

Ten minutes after America´s third goal, Feller had a head collision with an opponent. She was subbed off later in the game, after fifteen minutes or so after the foul happened, however, before that, she had decided to make her collision worth awhile. In 71’, Weir took a freekick which bounced off Rocío’s shoulder in the box to Feller who struck it in with full power.

There was another goal 7 minutes later to minimize America’s lead. Linda was running into the box from the right, decided to pass to the center of the box to Feller instead of chipping the ball. Feller collided with the goalkeeper which made them both stay down, and the ball bounced off back to Athenea who hit the inner part of the near post making it 3-2.

Camacho got on instead of Feller for the last 10 minutes of the encounter. The newly promoted youngster looked fresh on the pitch and offered support on the sides as well as the center. Unfortunately, no more goals were added to the scoreline. It was looking like Las Blancas were finally waking up, but it was a little too late.

The second, and last, preseason match for Real Madrid could serve as a wake-up call just before the season begins with this minimal loss against the Mexican side.