They left it until the final act, and then they made it unforgettable. Real Madrid Femenino are back in the Champions League league phase after beating Ajax 2-1 at the Alfredo Di Stefano on Wednesday night, Linda Caicedo settling it with the last play of the tie to complete a 4-1 aggregate win.
How the Real Madrid Femenino Champions League place was sealed
Pau Quesada named the same starting eleven that won 0-2 in Amsterdam, and Los Blancos began as if they wanted it over inside ten minutes. Felicia Schroder went clear inside two minutes and shaved the outside of the post; Sandie Toletti was denied by a superb Liefting save on ten. Then the tempo dropped, Madrid sat off, and Snoeijs punished the lull after the restart to level the night.
Schroder answered it. And with the clock gone, Caicedo produced the moment of the evening to send the Di Stefano into raptures. As Mundo Deportivo put it, the madridistas relied on their craft to get through.
Quesada had spent the build-up warning against exactly that drift. "They must try not to remember the lead we are carrying, because otherwise we would be making a mistake," he told Real Madrid TV. "We lived it last year, the lead counts for nothing." He was right twice over — and he was doing it without Sara Holmgaard, Sara Dabritz, Signe Bruun and Athenea del Castillo through injury, with five academy players away preparing for the Under-20 World Cup.
A streak intact
Madrid have now reached the main phase in every campaign since they first qualified for the group stage in 2021-22. They go into the draw off the back of the first-leg win in Amsterdam and a 3-2 derby victory over Atletico. Last season ended in the quarter-finals against eventual champions Barcelona. On this evidence, there is an appetite to go further.
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