The step back of the female Real Madrid

The leadership of Real Madrid, with Florentino Pérez at the helm, went to the Leganés stadium on May 27 of last year with the aspiration of obtaining the first title in the short history of the women's team, founded in 2020. They played against Atlético the final of the Copa de la Reina, a competition in which Barcelona had been eliminated due to improper alignment.

The opportunity was ripe for the white team, who had taken 18 points from the red and white team in the League and in the 88th minute they were winning 2-0.

But in the middle of the deluge that fell that Saturday night in Butarque, Alberto Toril's girls went into a spin a few meters from the shore.

Atlético tied them in the 95th minute and then defeated them on penalties.

A true feminine

Lisbon .

That disappointment was the beginning of the step backwards that the Madrid women's team has been suffering since then, penalized by the serious injury at the beginning of the season (broken cruciate) of its star Caroline Weir, who had given a jump the previous year thanks to his 19 goals and 12 assists.

This Sunday, White suffered the 14th defeat in as many classics (0-3), a wound that is beginning to turn ulcerous.

All in all, perhaps the worst thing about this campaign is that, unlike the last one, they have also faltered in the other events in the lineup against rivals who, in most cases, do not seem as unattainable as the Blaugranas.

They remain second in the League, but their expected approach to Barça and the noble positions in Europe has slowed down.

In the Champions League, they finished the group stage with a point, and thank you.

He was only able to obtain it at home, against Chelsea (2-2), thanks to a penalty whose foul occurred outside the area (there is no VAR).

They then lost all four matches against Paris FC and Häcken.

“This is football,” said Toril, who has not heard a word of self-criticism, when he lost against the Swedes four days after the 5-0 defeat at Montjuïc in the League.

And in the Queen's Cup, they finished out in the quarterfinals against Atlético (2-1), whom they could not beat in the League away from home (1-1).

Martyrdom with Barcelona

Not all of their problems have been Barcelona, ​​although each classic has been torture.

The statistics are corrosive in Valdebebas.

The balance of goals is 6-49 against them.

They have not scored in the last four matches (1-0, 5-0, 4-0 and 0-3) and the last time they did so, in the 2023 Super Cup (3-1), they ended up losing in extra time after play an hour with one more player due to the expulsion of Irene Paredes.

In the last six games, since Opta took records, Madrid has taken just seven shots on goal compared to the 45 of the culés.

This Sunday, the only one he achieved occurred almost in the 90th, with everything resolved.

Without Weir throughout the campaign, the signings have not been able to cover the gap (Signe Bruun has nine goals and Hayley Raso has only started in half of the league games) and the center of the defense has frequently cracked.

Within the usual silence of a team that does not offer press conferences (except when the competition -Champions, Cup and Super Cup- forces it), all of Alberto Toril's public statements have been a call for patience and, at times, a I praise the team despite some clear setbacks.

“Many times, expectations are too high.

We are clear about what our objectives are.

We have only a few years to live.

The moment will come, for sure,” he stated after last January's 0-4 in the Super Cup.

“I am happy with the trajectory,” he stated a few days later.

Some public words that match those that he dedicated privately to the players this Sunday after Valdebebas' 0-3 and that was captured on television: “We will try again.

I congratulate you for the work.

Don't go away sad, okay?

“Keep trying, okay?” the white coach, with a contract until the end of this season, told them in the center of the field.

Here's the Toril moment

: “I congratulate you on your work, don't go away sad.

We will try again”

pic.twitter.com/zREfvNK9o7

— Irati Vidal (@iratividal) March 24, 2024

And when the executioner was a more earthly rival, like Atlético, the substance of the speech did not change either.

“We are focused on the club's objectives, which is to qualify for the Champions League.

If we get second place, it will be very positive,” he concluded last February after the elimination from the Cup, without Barça intervening.

Time, patience and even faith.

Toril has been entrusting itself to this in the successive defeats in the most important events while in the day-to-day life of the League, without great brilliance, it has asserted its economic superiority to consolidate a comfortable position and meet the minimum score: second, now with six points ahead of Levante (both would go to the Champions League) and seven over Madrid CFF.

Several Moons away from Barcelona, ​​very weak in the Champions League and defeated by Atlético in the Cup, the great days, a thermometer of the evolution of the project, have left a women's Madrid one step behind what was expected.

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