A 180-minute tie. Under this premise, Dely Valdés’ boys arrived at Mini Estadi. The tie had to be kept alive for the second leg, which will take place next weekend in Málaga. Villarreal CF kicked off with more vigour and dominance in the initial stages of the game. After 11 minutes, the referee called a penalty in favour of the Castellón-based rival and showed the yellow card to Álex Robles. Leandro, the Yellow’s number ‘10’, scored from the penalty spot to put his team in front (1-0, minute 11). The Blue and Whites’ Juvenil team tried to escape from the pressure imposed by the rival with rapid transitions. Maty had a good opportunity midway through the first half. A shot from the corner of the area that went high. Jonny generated the best chance to put the visitors on the scoreboard in the first half. A pass from Hicham that the Blue and White’s winger couldn’t quite connect with. The referee disallowed a Villarreal goal for being offside. The first half came to an end with a minimal lead for the Juvenil boys from the Yellow Submarine team.
The Málagueño team went all out in the second half in search of a goal. They didn’t have to wait long. Joel found the equaliser (1-1, minute 52) after converting a dead ball from in front of the target. The Blue and Whites’ striker made the match all square. Dely’s players were superior and were gaining ground. First Hicham, then Álex Robles with a promising action from the right wing, caused trouble for the rival keeper. The Malaguista Juvenil coach decided to bring on Hugo in place of Jonny. With just 10 minutes to go until the final whistle, Maty was shown the red card for bringing down a rival player who was facing goal. The second substitution for the Blue and Whites saw Hicham come off and Eppy join play. Villarreal narrowly missed out on a 2-1 lead with just a minute to go, following a good shot that the Yellow player couldn’t convert. The match ended in a 1-1 draw. The tie will be decided in Málaga.
