There is a difference between dropping points and losing control of a season, and Real Madrid are still very much in the first category. Their goalless draw in the previous round was enough to slow the early momentum, but not enough to change the broader picture: this is still a team that has entered the league as Barcelona’s main challenger, and it now heads to Riazor for the first match of the third jornada.
Real Madrid visit Deportivo Abanca on Friday, 11 September, at 20.45 hours, in a fixture that opens the round. It is an early test of response, not panic. The draw left Real Madrid with their first points dropped of the campaign, while Deportivo come into a meeting that will ask immediate questions about how they handle a side expected to spend long stretches on the front foot.
A match that matters beyond the scoreline
The timing gives this game extra weight. The third jornada begins with Real Madrid away from home, and that means the conversation is not only about result, but about rhythm. After a 0-0, the obvious question is whether the team can turn territorial control into something more decisive. That is where Linda Caicedo becomes central again. She is expected to shoulder much of the offensive responsibility, especially in a match where one moment may be more valuable than sustained pressure.
That is also what makes the context around the league relevant. Barcelona have won the last seven titles in a row, and before that Atlético de Madrid won three consecutive championships between 2016 and 2019. Real Madrid femenino entered the competitive map in 2020, and in a short time has grown into the clearest alternative to Barcelona’s dominance. A trip to Riazor will not decide that race, of course, but it does fit the pattern of a team learning how to live with expectation.
The wider Liga F Moeve picture
The weekend schedule underlines how early the season still is. Barcelona and Atlético de Madrid are set to play at the Johan Cruyff on Saturday, 12 September, at 19.00 hours, a reminder that the title conversation is already moving fast. Real Madrid, meanwhile, need to show that the previous goalless draw was a brief stall rather than the start of a more familiar problem: dominance without enough damage in the final third.
There is also a practical issue around the squad. Real Madrid will be without the player sanctioned for an unsportsmanlike action on Rosa Otermín in the derbi madrileño on the first jornada, and that two-match suspension removes another option from a side that already needs clarity in attack. In that sense, this is less about one isolated result and more about whether Real Madrid can keep building a convincing identity while managing absences, pressure and expectation.
In early September, those questions are usually more important than the table. Friday in Riazor will not settle the season, but it should tell us whether Real Madrid are still moving with the control of a contender, or whether the first dropped points have exposed something more serious. For now, the answer still feels open. The test is whether they can make it close for long enough to matter.
