Real Madrid Castilla defeated Bilbao Athletic in the reserve teams' duel held at Alfredo Di Stéfano. Our team had to recover from the visitor's goal in the 5th minute and equalized midway through the first half with a goal from Pol Fortuny. In the second half, Julián López de Lerma's side came close to scoring with a shot by Leiva from the edge of the box that hit the post in the 85th minute. In added time, Palacios completed the comeback for our reserve team.

Things went against us almost from the start with a goal by Ibon Sánchez, but midway through the first half Pol Fortuny leveled the score by capitalizing on a rebound after Santos saved a header from Yáñez. From that moment, our reserve team took control of the match, and in the 33rd minute Pol Fortuny nearly scored a double with a header from a Bruno cross that narrowly missed the target. The visitors responded and, five minutes later, had a clear chance to score, but Joan Martínez cleared Huestamendia's shot off the goal line.

Comeback
The score was 1-1 at halftime, and after the break, the game was evenly contested until Fran González made a spectacular save in the 59th minute, stopping a volley by Adrián Pérez from the edge of the box. As the minutes passed, our reserve team struggled to create danger in Bilbao Athletic's area, but in the 85th minute, Leiva had the best chance of the second half up to that point. The midfielder received the ball on the edge of the box and found a gap to surprise the visiting goalkeeper with a beautiful shot that hit the post. David Jiménez could not find the target on the rebound.

And just when it seemed the reserve teams' duel would end in a draw, Palacios appeared to secure the win for Real Madrid Castilla in added time. Our top scorer cleverly got ahead of the visiting defense after a cross from Diego Aguado, just getting enough of a touch to beat Santos, net his tenth goal of the season, and place Julián López de Lerma's side in fourth place in the standings.

MATCH SUMMARY:
2-Castilla: Fran González, D. Jiménez, Joan Martínez, Valdepeñas, Diego Aguado, Cristian David, (Cestero, 46') Manuel Ángel, Pol Fortuny (Leiva, 65'), Bruno (Palacios, 57'), Yáñez (Roberto, 77') and Loren Zúñiga (Mesonero, 77').
1-Bilbao Athletic: Santos, Alday, Duñabeitia (Izagirre, 28'), Jon de Luis, Johaneko, Lete, Eder, Ibon Sánchez (Efe Korkut, 28'), Huestamendia (Adrián Pérez, 46'), Gift (Buján, 80') and Ibai Sanz (Ander Peciña, 87'). 

Goals:
0-1 (min. 5): Ibon Sánchez.
1-1 (min. 22): Pol Fortuny.
2-1 (min. 92): Palacios.

Disclaimer: Translation generated by artificial intelligence. It may contain inaccuracies.