Atlético wins the Copa de la Reina on penalties after an epic comeback

The first Madrid final in women’s football was won by Atlético, who did well to win it. Real Madrid will have to wait. The space in the showcases for their first trophy is still empty, because the mattress players, who seemed to be mortally wounded after Madrid’s second goal, decided that the fight was not over. They fought until injury time, drew on the limit and won on penalties after sterile extra time.

Real Madrid took the lead thanks to a corner that was not, because the last to touch the ball that was lost by the bottom line was Caicedo. More wood for the controversies. What was not discussed was Toletti’s shot from the penalty spot. No defender overtook her and the Frenchwoman placed the ball near the post, where Lola Gallardo did not reach.

It was a small detail, or not so much, of those that can decide a game, because until then Atlético had been the team that insisted the most against the opposing goal. As soon as it started, a run by Ajibade that ended in a cross shot started the bombardment of Misa’s goal, which became Real Madrid’s most solid asset during the first half hour, in which the undoubted quality of the white players it was not reflected in the game.

Well guarded the Scottish Weir; With Linda Caicedo who had Moraza on her wherever she went, the Madridistas lacked chicha. The one that the mattresses had plenty of, who were able to get ahead in a corner kick, which after a first header, Abijade finished off with all the goal for her, and who headed over the crossbar.

Then it was Banini who, after a caper, found space to stay in front of Misa, who took the shot for a corner.

Real breathed with Atlético’s frustrated chances, and balanced the game, although the initiative of the rojiblancas was still in force. But Toletti’s goal came and things changed. Perhaps not so much in the remainder of the first part, but since the return of the players after the break. The mattress energy dissipated as it began to rain on Butarque while the umbrellas appeared. Madrid took a step forward and began to harass Lola Gallardo’s goal, who went from being bored, except in the goal play, to hyperactivity with the constant arrivals of the whites. The first big warning was given by Weir, who he received in the area, and after great control and a huge dribble, he stood up to Gallardo, who made the save of the night.

Real insisted, and this is how the second goal came from a Linda Caicedo cross from the left, which Ivana, the Madrid captain, who usually has little to do with the goal, headed the opposite side to catch the defenders and goalkeeper off guard . The storm raged, thunder sounded after lightning lit up the night, and Real Madrid headed towards their first title after only three years of history, before the pleased gaze from Florentino Pérez’s box.

And then, the mattress players began to wage a bit of war on their own, and it didn’t go badly for them because individual quality emerged and arrivals in the Madrid area multiplied. Alexia, who came out in the second half, finished off a ball against the crossbar and, although it seemed a bit late, in minute 87, Lucía Moral pushed Argentina’s Banini’s delivery into the net, who went back over the baseline to give the pass from death. It was she herself who tied the game at the limit, when she holed a free-kick through the squad that surpassed Misa. The athletic bench became a party. After the penalties it was a party.

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