Castilla kicked off the second half of the Primera Federación with a draw against Mérida. Julián López de Lerma took charge of his first match as coach of the first reserve team on matchday 20 of the competition, at the Alfredo Di Stéfano stadium. García gave the Extremadura side the lead in the 13th minute, while Yáñez equalised in the 36th minute. After the restart, Madrid looked their lead, but the visitors defended well and the scoreline remained the same.

The tempo increased with Mérida capitalising on a mistake at the start to take the lead through García (13'). Loren Zúñiga responded in the moments that followed, but his effort was inches wide of the target. Castilla upped the intensity in attack and, in the 36th minute, found the equaliser. Diego Aguado crossed from the left wing for Loren Zúñiga; the Mérida centre-back managed to intercept the ball, but Yáñez latched on to the rebound inside the area and fired a powerful low shot past the keeper.

The academy team pushed forward frenetically after the interval. Yáñez was the first to go close with a shot that flew just wide of the goal. Minutes later, López de Lerma requested a review by Football Video Support (FVS) for a foul on the striker inside the box. However, referee Ortega Herrera stood by his decision and did not award a penalty after consulting the monitor. Castilla were the better side. Á. Leiva had the chance at his feet in the last chance of the game, but his attempt was blocked by the opposition defence and went inches wide of the target.
 
The Whites must now turn their attention to their next game: away against Tenerife, on Sunday (4 pm CET).