Real Madrid “Castilla” drew 1-1 against AD Merida in the 20th round of the current season in the Spanish third division, in a match in which Daniel Yanez brought a point for the “los blancos” team, after Alvaro Garcia opened the scoring in the first half for the guests. Being on the bench of the team in the capital of Spain for the first time, Julian Lopez de Lerma and his students “stuck” for the first time at the “Estadio Alfredo di Stefano” since October of last year.

Real Madrid B hosted AD Merida in the 20th round of the Primera RFEF, at the “Estadio Alfredo di Stefano”, at a point in the season in which the “los blancos” team occupied, before the match that was played in the Spanish capital, the fourth place in the general ranking with a total of 31 points, while the guests were in the 10th place, having accumulated 27 points. In the previous round of the domestic competition, the group that was prepared until recently by Alvaro Arbeloa, was defeated by three goals difference, away, by Arenas Getxo, and the team from Extremadura was narrowly defeated, with a final score of 1-0, by the second team of Osasuna.

Julian Lopez de Lerma was appointed the new technician of the team that is nicknamed “Castilla”, after the former Spanish right-back was promoted to the first team of Real Madrid. On their home field, before the start of the match at the “Valdebebas” sports complex, Real Madrid B had recorded seven consecutive matches that ended in a win, the last defeat recorded in front of the fans being in September of last year, when Tenerife managed to achieve a success with a two-goal difference in the company of the club from the capital of Spain.

In the opposing camp, AD Merida, in the duels that took place away from “home”, had scored in the most recent five official matches, two failures, two draws and a single triumph. The only occasion, in all this time, in which the group trained by Francisco Beltran triumphed happened in the match that was played against those from Guadalajara, when the band from Extremadura prevailed with a final score of 2-0. In the match that was played in the round of this championship edition, AD Merida would win against the club known as “La Fabrica” by a score of no show.

In fact, Real Madrid B had not managed to defeat the “Romanos” group since November 2024, when at the “Estadio Alfredo di Stefano”, the hosts scored six times against the visitors, four of which were in the second half of the game. In February 2024, AD Merida managed to leave the Spanish capital with all the points for the first time in the history of the confrontations that had been played at the arena of the “los blancos”. In the first match led from the technical bench as manager of the “Castilla”, the students trained by Julian Lopez de Lerma started the match much more determinedly and took possession of the ball from the first minutes.

The hosts’ first chance to score came in the 11th minute, when Diego Aguado’s successful run down the right side of the pitch allowed David Jimenez to cross into the opposition box, but Thiago Pitarch deflected the ball past Adrian Csenterics’ goalposts. The opening goal came a few moments later, when a ball recovered near the “La Fabrica” ​​penalty area left Alvaro Garcia in a good position, and the visitors’ Spanish striker did not “forgive” Fran Gonzalez, finishing the quick move “in cold blood” to give his team the lead.

Then, the “los blancos” counterattack came from Loren Zuniga, who took the ball in a forward position and, from a complicated angle, tried to score at the short corner, but the execution of the Equatorial Guinean footballer hit the side netting of the AD Merida goal. Later, the guests came close to increasing their advantage on the scoreboard, when Areso Blanco was left alone in front of the opposing goal, but his completion hit the left post of the goal defended by Fran Gonzalez. On the counterattack, Cesar Palacios had the opportunity to pass to the center of the box to the central striker of the second formation of Real Madrid, but Luis Pareja intervened decisively and stopped the dangerous phase.

After half an hour of this confrontation, Cesar Palacios shot from a long distance, from a free kick, but his execution did not find the frame of the goal defended by Adrian Csenterics. AD Merida returned to the offensive with 10 minutes left in the first half of this clash, and, after a cross launched from the left flank by Chiqui, Raul Beneit rose and resumed with a header, but his attempt to score did not find the space of the goal. Immediately afterwards, Real Madrid B restored parity on the scoreboard, when Diego Aguado’s cross was mistakenly rejected by one of the visitors’ defenders, and Daniel Yanez, from the ground, pushed the ball into the net.

“La Fabrica” came close to taking the lead for the first time in this duel when, in the 41st minute, Diego Aguado once again created danger on the left by infiltrating the Extremaduran team’s defense, and his cross sent down the ground reached Daniel Yanez, whose shot went over the crossbar of the opposing goal. The first opportunity to score for Real Madrid B in the second half of the confrontation at the “Estadio Alfredo di Stefano” belonged to the same “seven” of the hosts, whose shot from the edge of the box went wide of the opposing goal.

Subsequently, Diego Aguado’s cross was deflected by Cesar Palacios, and David Jimenez’s shot was blocked in extremis by Adrian Csenterics. David Jimenez got the ball close to the opposing goal, and his shot at the far corner was blocked with great difficulty by the visitors’ Hungarian goalkeeper in a corner kick. Later, from that corner, Joan Martinez, one of the central defenders of “Castilla”, rose and sent a dangerous shot, but his header went over the crossbar.

A stunning opportunity to regain the advantage was recorded by the scorer of the first goal of the game, Alvaro Garcia, who rose above the defenders of the “los blancos” club and sent it over the goal, on the end of a cross thrown into the box by Eudald Verges. AD Merida missed a huge opportunity to score when the match entered the last 10 minutes of the game, when Raul Beneit headed it from the penalty spot, but his execution narrowly avoided the Madrid goals.

The draw recorded at the “Estadio Alfredo di Stefano” interrupted the impressive series marked on home soil by the club “La Fabrica”, which began in the first days of October, and the equal result keeps Real Madrid B in fourth place, 15 lengths behind the current leader in the domestic competition, Tenerife. On the other hand, Ad Merida has dropped one step in the general hierarchy and is three points behind Athletic Bilbao B in the “race” for promotion. In the coming stage, the team trained by Julian Lopez de Lerma will play on foreign soil in the company of the first ranked in the Primera RFEF, Tenerife, and the group from Extremadura will return to its own “home” to “face off” with Pontevedra.