Real Madrid won against Celtic on the second matchday of UEFA Women’s Champions League with the result of 4-0. Below are my thoughts and views on the match.
Misa started on goal. Lakrar and Méndez as the CB duo were joined in defense by Oihane and Olga as fullbacks. Leupolz and Angeldahl started in midfield with Weir being part of the front four alongside Athenea, Linda, and Redondo. The heavy rotation continued as Toril made 5 changes with respect to the weekend’s Madrid derby.
Real Madrid completely dominated the game in every aspect. Las Blancas had 30 shots in the entire game, with 14 on them being on target. The ball wouldn’t go in during the first half after the early lead in 7th minute, but the game was completely on Celtic’s side of the pitch.
After the Madrid derby last weekend, when the right-hand side seemed completely cut-off from the rest of the team, in this match the problem disappeared. The balance between the two sides was restored. Athenea started with attacking from the right immediately from the kickoff. She would dribble into the opposition’s box trying to find the space to pass it over to a teammate. On the other side, the combinations between Caicedo and Weir shone the pitch on the left. The vision and understanding between these two players really made the left-hand side pop in both games.
- 7’ GOAL (1-0) by Caroline Weir: in the only instance where Weir and Caicedo were seen on the right, they managed to produce a goal. From Linda’s brilliant maneuvers on the touchline to escape 2 players and pass to Weir, to Weir’s rocket finish. Another astounding example of how this duo excels on the pitch.
Angeldahl was seen going wide a lot in this encounter. She was mostly playing toward the right, but she was seen on the left-hand side a handful of times, filling in for Olga in attack when the defender was tracing back. She helped Athenea on the wing often, sometimes even attempting to cross herself. The Swedish midfielder was always ready to connect at the entrance of the opponent’s penalty area as well.
Aside from the Swede, Melanie Leupolz had a noteworthy performance as well. Leupolz was great at covering the back of the left side, in the absence of Olga. Her recoveries and turnovers were a big part of the game. This was especially seen in the second goal where she directed the play after combining with Bruun.
- 72’ GOAL (2-0) by Signe Bruun: Leupolz’s turn in the midfield to shield the ball to the opponents gave a signal to Bruun to drop and combine with the German. The midfielder then sent the ball to the right wing where Eva Navarro was ready to cross and send it directly to Bruun.
Antonia Silva made her debut in 76th minute when she came on for Oihane. The Brazilian defender made a solid case for herself as her physicality in the last line of defense proved useful. The 14 minutes against Celtic were her first minutes playing on the pitch after sustaining an injury in the Olympics back in the beginning of August.
- 80’ GOAL (3-0) by Caroline Møller: Signe Bruun’s successful recovery from Celtic’s last line of defense was converted into an assist when Møller made an audacious chip shot from a distance to make it 3-0.
- 73’ GOAL (4-0) by Linda Caicedo (p.): Only a couple of minutes after the third goal, Shannon McGregor fouled Caicedo to give away a penalty for Las Blancas. The Colombian decided to take the responsibility of the penalty upon herself. While it looked like Daugherty would deny Caicedo, the touch of her hand wasn’t enough to deny Linda’s shot.
Relaxing 3 points for Las Blancas, and the first win in the official stages of UWCL for Real Madrid since December 2022. A lot of good things to draw from this encounter as another Madrid derby await Las Blancas this weekend, against Madrid CFF.
