According to Murphy’s Law, “if something can go wrong, it will go wrong.” For Castilla, it went even worse. May 9 became a cursed date for Real Madrid’s reserve team, marked by a double deluge: the rain that fell over Cáceres and the flood of misfortune that overwhelmed López de Lerma’s side. Rachad’s goal to cut the deficit proved futile.
In a match halted for 24 minutes by a hailstorm, an Atlético youth product became Madrid’s nightmare. Javi Ajenjo delivered a hat-trick he will never forget, while Castilla will try to forget this trip to Cáceres as soon as possible. Murphy’s Law applied its torture to the fullest.
The nightmare began with wins for Ponferradina, Pontevedra, and Barakaldo—all Castilla’s playoff rivals. The five-point cushion shrunk to just two. Then came a dominant Cacereño side, who scored early and controlled the game. When López de Lerma’s men—further weakened by the first team calling up Palacios and Cestero—started to wake up, the historic hailstorm forced a pause. After the restart, on a Príncipe Felipe pitch turned into an Olympic swimming pool, just as Castilla seemed to find their rhythm, another blow landed—again from Ajenjo, who had already opened the scoring.
His first goal came from Iván Fernández’s assist. The second converted a penalty conceded by Yáñez just before halftime—a whistle that came in the 50th minute but actually 74 minutes after kickoff. Castilla seemed to recover, scoring right after the break. Rachad Fettal, after a fine move by Liberto, scored again—his second goal for Castilla in a season that started with hope but turned into torment due to injuries.
But just as the genius from Torre Pacheco emerged from the lamp, Murphy struck again. When Castilla was playing their best, a slip in the rain—a miscalculation by Cristian David—allowed Ajenjo to fish in troubled waters. He rifled home his third of the night, beating Fran. A night to forget for the reserve team, the only bright spot being the debut in Primera RFEF of 16-year-old Cherif Fofana—a moment the Spanish-Polish talent raised in the rojiblanca academy will never forget.
With everything falling apart, Diego Guti, who had just stepped onto the pitch, scored the clincher and celebrated with tears in his eyes. The Príncipe Felipe crowd, who recently saw survival as a distant dream, now see it closer than ever after their second poker in two matches. For now, Cacereño sleeps outside the relegation zone. Castilla remains in playoff places, but without any cushion. Julio Cobos’ side did everything right, and everything that could go wrong for Castilla did—only worse.
All eyes now turn to Tuesday’s Premier International Cup final against Dortmund. There is no better way to forget than to celebrate, and this trip to Cáceres is one to forget.
