#espwnt 2020 preview

[laiasbian]

ESPWNT 2020 Preview (5/5): What to Watch For

Scoring

Spain has been great at goal prevention, conceding more than one goal just 4 times in 18 matches last year, but they also scored only one goal or less in 10 of those same matches. Without diving too deep into the issue, it’s safe to say that Spain won’t be a top team until they start scoring. Keep an eye on Nahikari and Lucía (that’s Lucía) García, two accomplished goal scorers at both the youth level and in the Primera Iberdrola. Lucia scored 37 goals in 30 youth matches. Nahikari is one of the top five scorers in the league this year despite missing a chunk of the season. They haven’t translated that success to the senior level yet, but there’s reason to believe that the goals will come in time. It will be interesting to see if Alba Redondo gets more chances with the first team. She doesn't have the same youth pedigree as the Garcías, but she has been among the top goal scorers in the Primera Iberdrola for the past three seasons.

Youth Injection

The players responsible for Spain’s youth-level dominance in recent years are now knocking at the door of the senior team. With a number of low-pressure matches this year, it would be a good time to test new players and see how they fit into the team's plans. Laia Aleixandri, Ona Batlle, and Eva Navarro all debuted in 2019. Candidates for debuting this year include Berta Pujadas and Claudia Pina. The busy youth schedule this year complicates things a bit, but come fall, these players will hopefully be added to the mix as Spain prepares for the 2021 Euro.

Promesas

The Absoluta Promesas squad will be fascinating to watch in its first full year. The number of players graduating from Spain's top-ranked youth system continues to grow larger than the number of spots on the national team. While selections haven’t had much variety in the past, perhaps the establishment of the Promesas squad is an indication that there is a willingness to try out different players going forward. Those who are next in line for a call up will now have an excellent opportunity to keep their skills sharp and stay on the radar. The Promesas should result in Spain developing solid depth for the national team and elevating the level of play throughout the country.

#lmao i never posted this oops #anyway i encourage all of you to get familiar with baby spain #this year is going to be ~lit af~ for them #espwnt #espwnt 2020 preview

[laiasbian]

ESPWNT 2020 Preview (3/5): Primera Iberdrola

The Spanish WNT begins a new decade and a new era in 2020. They’ll try to follow up their achievements from the late-2010s and build a generation of success and growth for women’s football in Spain. This post looks at the league that most national team players call home.

League Champions 

Atlético Madrid have won the league for the past three seasons. If they win again this season, they will tie Barcelona’s record of four straight league championship titles. Not willing to let that happen, Barcelona has been literally unbeatable this season. Their 48 goal differential in 13 matches quickly sums up how dominant they’ve been in the first half. Atlético, meanwhile, has seen their underperformance put them in a two-match deficit behind Barcelona. They’ll need to keep their rough first half behind them if they want to climb back on top. And if they don’t, they’ll run the risk of being overtaken by a formidable Levante team. 

Race for Third Place

It should be no surprise that Levante is leading the rest of the pack. They have one of the league’s top scorers in Alba Redondo; a future national team star in Eva Navarro; and a strong defense that includes Rocío Gálvez, Ivana Andrés, and Ona Batlle. Not far behind Levante is Athletic Club, who have been among the class of the league since their establishment in 2002. Athletic Club has recent youth system graduates Lucía García, Maite Oroz, and Damaris Egurrola to build their next championship team around. Deportivo is also right in the thick of things, which is impressive considering it’s just their first season since promotion. They hit a rough patch that dropped them down to fifth place, but a core of Teresa Abelleira, María Méndez, and Athenea del Castillo should make it easy for the club to become a regular around the top of the table. No matter who ends up finishing in third place, there are implications that come with it, as next season the third-place team will qualify for the 2021-22 UWCL.

Tournaments

All sixteen Primera Iberdrola teams will compete in the Copa de la Reina during the second half of the season. We don’t have the draw dates yet, but the match schedule has been released:

Round of 16 - February 11/12

Quarterfinal - February 25/26

Semi-final - March 17/18

Final - May 31

It would have been nice if the Copa was spread out along more of the season, now that a second women’s tournament has been introduced. The Supercopa will feature the current Copa champions (Real Sociedad), the Copa runner-ups (Atlético), and the highest seeded remaining teams (Barcelona and Levante).

Semi-final - First week of February?

Final - February 9

Something worth keeping an eye on here is that there could be a total of six Atleti-Barça matches this season, depending on how the draws go.

#athletic club is such an interesting team #if only we could watch them 🙃 #espwnt 2020 preview #espwnt #spa wnt

[laiasbian]

ESPWNT 2020 Preview (4/5): UWCL

The Spanish WNT begins a new decade and a new era in 2020. They'll try to follow up their achievements from the late-2010s and build a generation of success and growth for women's football in Spain. Spain’s top two women’s teams will meet this spring, and dramatic as it may sound, it will be an event for the history books.

The Draw

In a remarkable twist of fate, Atlético Madrid and Barcelona were drawn to play each other in the UEFA Women's Champions League quarterfinal. It's the first time two Spanish clubs will face each other in the UWCL. 

This is a bittersweet matchup for Spanish women's football. On the one hand, a Spanish club is going to be eliminated. On the other hand, it will be the second year in a row that a Spanish team makes it to the semi-final round.

The Teams

Atlético Madrid hasn't quite overpowered their way through the bracket to this point. They started out by beating Spartak Subotica in the Round of 32, winning the first leg 3-2 and then ending the second leg in a 1-1 draw. They then prevailed against a tough Manchester City matchup in the next round, securing a place in the quarterfinal for the first time in club history. Atlético has had a goal differential of one in each of the first two rounds. Sure that gets the job done, but it is a step behind the other teams that have made it to the quarterfinal round. 

As for Barcelona, their expectation is that this will be just another hurdle to clear on their way back to the UWCL final. Barcelona have won all four of their Champions League matches this season. They defeated Juventus in the Round of 32, 2-0 and 2-1, and then trounced Minsk in the Round of 16, 5-0 and 3-1. This will be Barça's fifth straight appearance in the quarterfinal round. A win would get them to the semi-final in back-to-back seasons for the first time ever.

The Clásico

This two-leg set will be a new chapter in the Atlético-Barcelona rivalry, further cementing it as the true El Clásico of women's football. The media coverage for this is sure to be a boon for the Spanish women. It's a superb opportunity to have the teams, who literally broke a world record for attendance together, play at the Wanda and Camp Nou, but whether either club is willing to do so remains doubtful.

#this will be fun #spain is moving up the ranks #watch out world #espwnt 2020 preview #espwnt #spa wnt

[laiasbian]

ESPWNT 2020 Preview (1/5): Competition

The Spanish WNT begins a new decade and a new era in 2020. They'll try to follow up their achievements from the late-2010s and build a generation of success and growth for women's football in Spain. We’ll start off by previewing what competition the team will face in 2020.

UEFA Women’s Championship Qualification

Much of Spain's focus in 2020 will be on qualifying for the 2021 UEFA Women’s Championship. Currently, they stand in first place in Group D, one point ahead of the Czech Republic. They have 5 matches left in the qualification round:

April 9 vs. Moldova

April 13 vs. Czech Republic 

June 8 vs. Poland

September 19 @ Moldova

September 22 @ Azerbaijan

SheBelieves Cup

Although it has not been officially announced, all signs seem to point to Spain competing in the 2020 SheBelieves Cup. Spain's debut in the tournament would see them play against three of FIFA’s top 10 teams: Japan (10), England (6), and the United States (1). These are the kinds of teams Spain need to play if they want to push themselves to the next level. In a year mostly filled with weaker competition, it would benefit Spain to face a challenging lineup like this one.

Friendlies

Spain doesn't have any friendlies scheduled yet for 2020. Assuming they do compete in the SheBelieves Cup, they’ll only have one chance to play a friendly between now and October, during the June window. Since their group for qualification is particularly weak, it would be nice if Spain could use this opportunity to play another top team. Germany and France would be excellent challenges. Perhaps Great Britain or Australia could use Spain to prepare for the Olympics, if only for the 🏳️‍🌈🤯. But should they decide to keep the extra rest in the schedule, Spain hopefully will use the windows in October and November to begin prepping for the Euro, assuming they qualify.

#espwnt 2020 preview #espwnt #spa wnt

[laiasbian]

ESPWNT 2020 Preview (2/5): Youth Teams

The Spanish WNT begins a new decade and a new era in 2020. They'll try to follow up their achievements from the late-2010s and build a generation of success and growth for women's football in Spain. The senior team may not have much going on this year, but the youth teams should have a packed schedule. With a Euro Championship and World Cup for both the U-17 and U-19 levels, the youth teams will have plenty of chances to prove last year’s ~underperformance was just a fluke.

U-17 UEFA Women’s Championship

The U-17 team entered the 2019 UEFA Championship having reached the finals in the previous five tournaments, so you can understand why getting knocked out in the semifinal was a disappointment. With their #1 UEFA coefficient earning them a bye through the qualifying round, Spain’s journey back to the top will begin this spring in the Elite Round:

March 19 vs. Turkey 

March 22 vs. Slovenia 

March 25 vs. Portugal 

If they can come out on top of Group 6, they’ll head to Sweden for the final tournament in May.

U-17 Women’s World Cup

A top three finish in the U-17 UEFA Championship will punch Spain’s ticket to the U-17 World Cup, taking place this November in India. Spain would enter the tournament as the defending champions, having won their first title in 2018 when they defeated Mexico 2-1 in the final.

U-19 UEFA Women’s Championship

A gut-wrenching loss against France in the 2019 UEFA Championship semi-final broke a streak of five straight finals appearances for the U-19 team (just like their U-17 counterparts 😞). Qualification for the 2020 UEFA Championship began last fall, and Spain dominated their way through to the next round, scoring 22 goals while allowing none. Here’s what Group 3 has in store for them in the Elite Round:

April 8 vs. Sweden

April 11 vs. Serbia 

April 14 vs. Switzerland 

Winning the group would see Spain head to Georgia for the final tournament in late July.

U-20 Women’s World Cup

Disappointing as it may have been, Spain’s performance in the 2019 Euro earned them a spot in the U-20 World Cup, which will be this August in Costa Rica and Panama. Spain’s superb record in the U-19 UEFA Championship hasn’t quite carried over to the World Cup in the past, but in 2018 they earned their best result yet, finishing as runners-up to Japan. Capturing their first U-20 title would be a great sendoff for the players whose last chance it is to play in a youth World Cup:

Teresa Abelleira (January 9, 2000)

Anna Torroda  (January 21, 2000)

Laia Codina (January 22, 2000)

Candela Andujar  (March 26, 2000)

Berta Pujadas (April 9, 2000)

Maria Mendez  (April 10, 2000)

Olga Carmona (June 12, 2000)

Laia Aleixandri (August 25, 2000)

Athenea del Castillo (October 24, 2000)

Rosa Marquez (December 22, 2000)

Eva Navarro (January 27, 2001)

Cata Coll (April 23, 2001)

Claudia Pina (August 12, 2001)

#i love writing about baby spain #there's so much to say #this is should be a fun year #espwnt 2020 preview #espwnt #spa wnt