Photo by Quality Sport Images/Getty Images Your Manic MatchMonday Edition of the Daily Merengue! The Open Thread/Daily Merengue is a place where you can discuss anything and everything related to football. Feel free to discuss the topics presented here, or start your very own discussions! The Open thread will be posted every day by one of the mods you’d love to treat to Souvlaki: Valyrian Steel, Felipejack, Kung_Fu_Zizou (AKA _KFZ_), Juninho and, of course... **yours truly**. ## Victory for Femenino Our girlz team has beaten Atletico on the road. Be sure to check out the corresponding Immediate Reaction post for a quick but better picture of the overall performance. > @AtletiFemenino 1-2 @RealMadridFem > ⚽ 44' @Linda__caicedo > ⚽ 52' G. García (Propia puerta) > ⚽ 64' Misa (Propia puerta) #LigaF | @emirates pic.twitter.com/stZSJUe0gU > > — Real Madrid C.F. (@realmadridfem) January 5, 2025 > Toril #LigaF pic.twitter.com/9E8pCQINa0 > > — Real Madrid C.F. (@realmadridfem) January 5, 2025 One thing I noticed: Madrid’s X acount highlighted Toril quite a bit following the win. ## Tonight’s Game Real Madrid take on Deportiva Minera today for the R32 of the Copa del Rey - a competition we could definitely do better at. We can expect a fair amount of rotations. Reportedly, Acensio, Gonzalo Garcia and Aguado will take to the pitch. I’m particularly looking forward to seeing Garcia in action, as I keep an eye on his development - quite the attacking swiss army knife, that one. Carlo himself has publically said that he shall give minutes to players who haven’t played a lot. Yet, I’m as excited as I am cautious. Many rotations, especially ones including plenty of youngsters, may impact the on-field chemistry and... well, we’ve been surprised by lower tier teams before. Now, such upsets happen once in a while and it’s no real reason to be scared - if anything, they make the game more lovable. However, I still hope Carlo hits the sweet spot of enough rotations for rest, while keeping the chemistry high enough to out the tie to bed. > ✅ Our squad for the match! > @DeportivaMinera#LaCopaMola pic.twitter.com/j175tvwOEZ > > — Real Madrid C.F. (@realmadriden) January 5, 2025 > Raul Asensio & Diego Aguado devraient être titulaire demain face au Deportiva Minera. > > (@Marca ) pic.twitter.com/hVfU1jepRl > > — Real Madrid (@RMadridFrance_) January 5, 2025 > Gonzalo Garcia has scored ELEVEN (11) goals in the last SIX (6) games for Real Madrid Castilla. > > On fire. pic.twitter.com/YdRI1TQbeY > > — Madrid Zone (@theMadridZone) December 1, 2024 ## Oh and... Make of this what you will. > BREAKING: Real Madrid have proven with images that Kylian Mbappé was ONSIDE last night. > > VAR chose wrong frame. After the ball had left Bellingham's leg. pic.twitter.com/ChQ5k7vkZM > > — Madrid Zone (@theMadridZone) January 5, 2025 * * * > View this post on Instagram > > A post shared by Managing Madrid (@managingmadrid)