The situation
Castilla is still choking. Fourth consecutive game without winning for Raúl’s men, who get stuck and see how the dream of direct promotion looms in the distance (quarter-finals, four points behind Alcorcón, who plays at 6:00 p.m.). Coincidence or not, Álvaro Rodríguez was not present in three of the four punctures… Something has stopped working. Mérida stood at Di Stéfano with a clear plan and not only inhibited white football, but also threatened at times to scratch something else. Something that Castilla also deserved. For something Mario de Luis and Palomares were the aces of a tie where the will was not enough. Juanma Barrero was betting on exploiting his weapons in the previous one and it didn’t take long for Mérida to follow the guidelines to the letter. No matter how much the coach was not on the bench (suspended). A lot of pressure in the intermediate zone, staggering the Castillo construction and inhibiting the incidence of an Arribas who was not comfortable . Under this dogma, the Roman team built a wall in the first minutes that forced Mario de Luis to intervene on a dangerous shot by Meléndez and see how Copete once again installed the ‘oops’ in the Di Stéfano stands with another long shot. The Extremaduran transitions forced Marvel and Rafa Marín, very confident, to back down. And to Raúl to modify the blackboard. El Siete innovated from the start, with Theo and Aranda instead of Álvaro Martín y Obrador. A priori, the usual 3-4-2-1. Until the visiting force mutated the scheme to a 4-2-3-1 where Peter left the left-handed lane to hit as a right-handed winger and Aranda, the most active in the overflow, opened up in the opposite profile. It didn’t take long for Castilla to reap fruits. First Theo tested Palomares and then the opportunity came with a capital letter. Noel, the nine in the absence of an Álvaro whose five yellow cards ruled him out, turned around in the area in a mousetrap play in which he anticipated the defense that ended with a tremendous save from the Emeritus goalkeeper. Another Castilla came to rest with renewed energy.
Without corset or aim
And after the snack, without a corset. Peter brushed the first with a left-footed shot from the front to the short post that Palomares’s stretch broke up. Moments later, a combination between Arribas and the winger ended with the ’10’ against the rival goal , but the definition came out very focused. And Aranda and Peter did not stop facing and installing nerves in the rear of Emeritus, which showed the first cracks after a first part of registration.