There are midweek football this week, and Valencia is the first Spanish team to grab points at the Miniestadi since February. If Atlético wins tomorrow in Tenerife, they will catch Barcelona. FC Barcelona 1-1 Valencia CF Andressa Alves 2' - Maripaz Vilas 75'
There are just 4 weeks remaining, but they're worth bumping the thread. The Valencia-Levante derby has been played this morning in Mestalla (it's the first time the women's team has played in the main stadium) and it has set a national record, with an attendance of 17,000. It has been much more one-sided than expected, Valencia played incredibly well, and it seems it's going to end 3rd for the first time. They have only received one goal in 2017: Rayo 0-1 VCF, Zaragoza 0-4 VCF, VCF 0-0 Espanyol, Albacete 0-4 VCF, VCF 2-0 Sporting, Tacuense 0-5 VCF, VCF 5-0 Betis, Athletic 1-2 VCF, VCF 3-0 Oiartzun, VCF 2-0 Santa Teresa, Atlético 0-0 VCF and... Valencia CF 6-0 Levante UD Yanara Aedo 8' 18' - Carol Férez 23' - Mari Paz Vilas 35' - Estefanía Banini 58' - Marta Peiró 77'
Atlético has been on the lead for a long time, but following past week's 0-0 draw against Valencia it has been caught by Barcelona. Since the Athletic-Barcelona match has been postponed to Tuesday because of the Champions League's semifinals, they have a posible 3 points advantage meanwhile. Atlético Madrid 5-0 Santa Teresa CD Esther González 27' 55' - Sonia Bermúdez 72' 84' - Bea Beltrán 85'
Granadilla beat Athletic 4-0 past week and it looked like they might catch them this week, but they have lost unexpectedly against Oiartzun, which had only defeated bottom-table rivals so far (Espanyol, Albacete, Tacuense). This is a crucial win for Oiartzun, now they have a 4 points advantage over relegation. Oiartzun KE 1-0 UD Granadilla Pisco Peña (o.g.) 37'
Following Santa Teresa's loss against Atlético, Real Sociedad could have gotten an 8 point margin in the Copa de la Reina quallifying, but it lost against Betis (which had ten players for 61 minutes), so it has been surpassed by Rayo Vallecano and Santa Teresa still has some options. Real Betis 1-0 Real Sociedad Beíta Parra 38'
2014-15 Copa de la Reina champion Sporting was one point away from the competition two months ago, but a 0-1-6 record has left them with no options; this is their first win since. On the other hand Zaragoza (which also got to the Cup's final two seasons earlier) still had some, but this defeat virtually ends them. Sporting Huelva 3-0 Zaragoza CFF Cristina Martín-Prieto 9 - Anita Hernández 65 69 These are the two remaining games with no highlights: Albacete Balompié 0-2 RCD Espanyol Eli del Estal 27' - Paloma Fernández 62' UD Tacuense 0-2 Rayo Vallecano Amaia Mendioroz 17' - Laura Domínguez 57' It's only the third victory this season for former powerhouse Espanyol, and it means a lot as they leave the relegation positions for the first time since mid-January. Conversely, Albacete falls in them after their 10th loss in a row. Tacuense is in even deeper trouble, but it could still avoid relegation if they manage to beat both Espanyol and Albacete, while Rayo takes Real Sociedad's 7th place and gets a 7 point advantage in the Cup qualifying. It's hard to believe they were struggling to avoid relegation before Natalia Pablos' return.
this is an high attendance for an club game & hopefully people take note. The only thing is that I heard the game was for free. Estefania Banini played two years for the NWSL's Spirit. Since the Spirit made it all the way to the finals, wonder if she was let go or got an better offer from Valencia?
Probably both... The Spirit runs things on the cheap, so if she's an above-average player on an above-average club in Spain, she's probably making more; at the same time, the Spirit absolutely trashed their own roster this past offseason despite making it to the final, part of which being players simply wanted out.
I forgot to post the Athletic-Barcelona highlights. When the season began it was supposed to be a title decider, but by now this result is no surprise. Athletic is 13 points away from the 3rd place with 4 games remaining; for the second time in its history (it happened in the 2005-06 season), they won't end in the top 3. Athletic Bilbao 0-4 FC Barcelona Jennifer Hermoso 45' 53' 65' - Olga García 90' 01. FC Barcelona 58 02. Atlético Madrid 58 03. Valencia CF 59 04. Levante UD 51 05. Athletic Bilbao 46 06. UD Granadilla 43 07. Rayo Vallecano 40 08. Real Sociedad 38 09. Santa Teresa CD 33 10. Zaragoza CFF 29 11. Sporting Huelva 12. Real Betis 25 13. Oiartzun KE 17 14. RCD Espanyol 15 15. Albacete Balompié 13 16. UD Tacuense 11
This weekend's main games are Levante-Atlético, Granadilla-Levante and the Basque derby, R.Sociedad-Athletic. In addition, Segunda División ends already. Oviedo Moderno (which played in Primera last year), SD San Ignacio, CE Seagull, and Madrid CFF are already qualified for the promotion play-offs, and CD Femarguín defeated San Juan TN 0-5 in the Canarian play-off's 1st leg, so they will qualify for sure. And I think in Group 4 both Sevilla FC and Granada CF will qualify; the first position is at stake, but the other will probably qualify as the best 2nd-position team. So the only open group is No. 7, with Sporting Plaza de Argel and Aldaia CF. Sporting has a slight advantage and an supposedly easier match. On the other hand Several former Superliga/Primera teams (FVPR El Olivo, UE L'Estartit, Levante Las Planas, CE Sabadell, CD Híspalis, CF Pozuelo, CD Amigos del Duero) could be relegated to the lower categories. The other team relegated from Primera, UD Collerense, will end 5th, 6th or 7th in its group.
There are a ton of highlight videos of matches from this league. Where can we watch these full length matches on-demand? Thanks.
so FC Barcelona wants to join the NWSL? http://equalizersoccer.com/2017/05/11/barcelona-well-have-a-team-in-nwsl-for-2018/ fastest flight time for the away game vs the Seattle Reign; 13 hours & 45 min! I'm sure the folks at Spirit Airlines will be happy to accommodate them
Congratulations to Atletico Madrid for winning the league and going undefeated. 24-6-0 and 3 points in front of Fc Barcelona
looks like Barcelona is spending more money these days, they've just singed England's Toni Duggan & striker Andonova(from PSG). Here is a vid of Toni, not sure if those Barca colors befit her, lol
@Patchouli Did you know why all these young players have left Barcelona? It's so weird that very highly rated players like Batlle, Aleixandri, Sandra Hernandez etc...haven't had their chance there, is the club politics with the signing of well known international players like Bussaglia, Duggan, Andonova changed? It is have been confirmed that Real Madrid will have a female section?
looks like Barcelona did it again; their newest signee; Lieke Martens. She's originally a winger, but she's been doing quite good as the AM/play maker of the Dutch NT http://equalizersoccer.com/2017/07/12/wednesday-roundup-martens-moves-to-fc-barcelona/ below the Martens story, is another article on an English third tier pro club that's going to pay the same amount of salary to both it's men's & women's squads. When will the rest of the world catch up? lol
Just some stats of the league this season. It is quite interesting how Martens is not topping any of these list as the 'player of the year' Minutes per field goal: Mari Paz Villas 98.8 (1284 min) Charlyn Corral 108.6 (1520 min) Barabara Latorre 116.1 (813 min) Andressa Alves 119.0 (714 min) Toni Duggan 133.6 (1202 min) Ludmila 135.1 (1081 min) Patri Guijarro 145.5 (873 min) Jade Boho 148.9 (1042 min) Minutes per assist: Andressa Alves 142.8 (714 min) Ludmila 135.1 (1081 min) Debora Garcia 158.5 (634 min) Bea Parra 184.3 (1106 min) Mariona 190.5 (381 min) Honourable mention: Olga Garcia 80.3 (241 min) - Too little minutes to really judge Minutes per field goal or assist: Andressa Alves 64.9 (714 min) Ludmila 67.6 (1081 min) Charlyn Corral 80.0 (1520 min) Mari Paz Vilas 80.3 (1284 min) Barbara Latorre 81.3 (813 min) Mariona 95.3 (381 min) Bea Parra 100.5 (1106 min) Sonia Bermudez 101.0 (1414 min) Patri Guijarro 109.1 (873 min) Toni Duggan 109.3 (1202 min) Erika Vazquez 109.6 (1206 min) Natasa Andonova 114.4 (572 min) Nahikari Garcia 117.7 (1412 min) Martina Piemonte 121.2 (1091 min) Lieke Martens 123.0 (1353 min) Carol Ferez 125.3 (877 min) Amanda Sampedro 135.0 (1620 min) Honourable mention: Olga Garcia 60.3 (241 min) - Too little minutes to really judge
Barca prides itself in its balance & team concept type play. Martens 7 goals is sill just two off Duggans team leading scorer. List below, but Barca got an impressive, 16 different goal scorers so far this season https://us.women.soccerway.com/teams/spain/fc-barcelona/4324/ In an earlier interview, Lieke did mention that Barca style of dominating the midfield by passing is far different than the more direct attacking fomat that's she's used at the Dutch NT. not saying though that Barca's system is the best; they got a dozen Spanish NT members also on the squad, yet still in tie for the lead with Athletic Madird(who flubbed really badly in the CL) in a league with probably way too many teams for it's own good(16 1st division teams)
Barca's possession type game will cramp down on space, which is what Martens; really needs to be at her best/or at least that what she got with the Dutch NT; quick long balls to her before the opposing defenses could get in place. Here's some nice highlights of her playing for Barca(but she really is cramped for space)
Barca looses another game, this time to the Athletic club. Now it leaves them at only 2nd in the league. Here's highlights.Barca could use more variety; while Martens still shows her artistry. seems like Tony Duggan is the only one taking shots
Atlético are the champions 2017/18, beating Barcelona by 1 point with a last-day win at Zaragoza. - http://www.womenssoccerunited.com/atletico-madrid-femenino-win-the-spanish-liga-femenina-2018 (Archive page) - Zaragoza CFF - Atlético de Madrid, 13 May 2018 More about that Madrid derby attendance here: - https://en.as.com/en/2018/03/19/football/1521459292_238792.html (Archive page) Copa de la Reina final 2017/18 was Atlético v Barcelona on Saturday, 2 June: Highlights are on Youtube (ElDesmarque TV), or the full match:
BTW relegation: Zaragoza and Santa Teresa are going down to the Second Division. EF Logroño and Malaga are promoted: - http://www.laliga.es/en/news/ef-logrono-win-promotion-to-the-liga-iberdrola - http://www.laliga.es/en/news/malaga-cf-femenino-has-been-promoted-to-liga-iberdrola
finally watched the whole game, my impressions were; Sonia Bermudez was easily the best player on the pitch, surprised that she's not on their NT. She's all ready 33, but she obviously was still in great shape as she hustle'd all over the place., had to go out around the 1.10 mark due to a cramp, which switched the game after that to Barca's favor. the two Brazilians Ludmilla & Alves, need to stop diving, they tried to ruin what was a very entertaining game. two sort of different styles; Barca's ticki taca vs AM's more dribble drive, but it leaves the Spaniards without a world class striker(both had foreign mercs) Barca was obvious more loaded, but sometimes doesn't use it's players more wisely; didn't play the ball enough to Lieke Materns/used my top SP/NT pick, Guijarro, as an CB, even though she's so much more effective as a attacking mid