Real Madrid lost 5-0 in the Supercopa de España Femenina final against Barcelona. Below are my thoughts and views on the match.
Misa started on goal. Antonia started as RB and Olga as LB. Lakrar and Méndez made up the CB duo. In midfield, there were Toletti, Weir, and Angeldahl, with Redondo, Bruun, and Caicedo in the front line. It was a 4-4-2 with Redondo and Linda on the wing, and Bruun and Weir leading the line.
The expected mess on the right-hand side in reality translated to defending the left side. With Linda on the RW and Redondo on the LW, Olga didn’t have the support from her winger in defense. Ona Batlle and Caroline Graham Hansen were shredding Madrid’s left-hand side where most of their goals came from.
Blaugranas rarely went to attack through their left side. Antonia had troubles defending at times but her ball-shielding won her duels against Pina. Linda Caicedo wasn’t supported in a few instances when she went up alone. Toletti was the one who’d have to come up and help after Linda was left alone for some time already. The action would already die down until Linda would receive help. It was obvious from the start that Antonia wasn’t the type of player for this match and even though she showed decent defensive performance, she was nonexistent in attack.
Alberto Toril had a question about the left-wing situation in the post-match press conference:
“I think about winning, I think about Alba scoring, she had chances. The players have to take on the challenge, [Barça] have a lot of talent, they are the best in the world and it’s very complicated. If you block the right, they come out on the left…”
To an extent, he is right, at least about the last part. However, Barça insisted on going through their right with Ona and CGH and they would rarely encounter difficulties running through. Alba Redondo was never put on the wing since the beginning of a game, and it was natural to expect she wouldn’t be up for the task of defending the left side. Sandie Toletti was ever-present and made up for a lot of holes, especially in defending inside the penalty area.
Here are some of the biggest mistakes of Real Madrid’s defense in Barça’s goals.
- In the second goal, CGH’s through ball reaches Ona smoothly as she outruns Olga who was off pace the entire game. She went right through finding Pajor in front of the goal who was apparently being marked by both CBs but unsuccessfully.
- The third goal was from a corner. The infamous set-piece defending from Las Blancas. The corner was taken by CGH and sent to the near post. Pajor followed the ball’s trajectory, moving forward to the near post to get to it. She was marked by Toletti but as the ball met Pajor, Bruun and Toletti had a slight miscommunication. In the end, Pajor jumped higher and sent it behind Madrid’s defense into the goal.
- The fifth goal was another failed attempt at defending a corner kick. Mapi León took the corner to the near post which was an easy clearance for Toletti, but the ball found Mapi near the corner flag again. She sent it to the far post this time, Pajor headed it, Misa saved, but Alexia was there to get the rebound.
Another lost chance at a trophy, but this final was a much clearer dominance by one team than the cup final in 2023 at the same venue. Late and unnecessary subs continue, as well as the unnecessary rotation of the starting XI. Las Blancas haven’t scored against Barcelona since the Supercup semifinal match in January 2023.
