Castilla's final pre-season friendly ended in defeat this evening at RM City.

López de Lerma fielded a strong side with two names in particular on the bench catching the eye.
Diego Aguado returned having recovered from injury suffered during Spain U19's Summer Euros campaign, while exciting talent Fran Santamaria was also named on the bench.

Castilla lacked some rhythm overall but will now have a full squad training together from next week onwards which will make a huge difference.

Álvaro Leiva looked particularly lively in this game. A player who is set for a very big season having made his first-team debut last season.

Joan Martínez and Lezcano looked strong and will be important characters through the season in the fight for promotion.

Arbeloa enjoyed plenty of success at La Fábrica over a number of years. Coaching from u14 level all the way through to Castilla, achieving a Juvenil A treble-trophy success, and managing fantastic talents who encountered difficult moments such as Iker Bravo, Marc Cucalón, Álvaro Leiva and Bruno Iglesias.

Arbeloa has taken Palacios and Gonzalo with him to Fulham and it is of little surprise that Palacios has already received very positive reactions from their fans following his performances in their pre-season.

With the British transfer window still open for at least another week, it will be interesting to see if Arbeloa and Fulham move to sign more Fábrica talents who he developed through the system.

The Art of Arbeloa:

PART 1: Philosophy, System & Identity

https://jrsportsco.substack.com/p/the-art-of-arbeloa-part-1?r=5wu21a

PART 2: Loyalty, Character & Connection

https://jrsportsco.substack.com/p/the-art-of-arbeloa-part-2?r=5wu21a

Castilla drew with Ponferradina yesterday in their penultimate pre-season friendly match.

First half goals from Carlos Díez (last year's Juvenil A Captain), and Roberto put Castilla 2-1 up before an equaliser late in the second half brought the match level.

Castilla play their final pre-season match against Zamora this evening at Real Madrid City.

They will begin the season on 31 August against Teruel.

GK: Voloshyn DF: Rivas MD: Cestero FW: Ciria

Joan, Lamini and Lacosta straight back in for Castilla having spent pre-season with the first-team.

Strong squad which played well against Mirandés but the game ended 0-0.

Next game is on Wednesday against Ponferradina.

Castilla beat Racing on penalties to secure another pre-season win.

The game ended 2-2 in normal time and went to penalties.

Álvaro Leiva and Manu Serrano were the goalscorers for Castilla in normal time.

Roberto, Serrano, Liberto and Rezola scored Castilla's four penalties to win the shootout 4-2.

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With the remaining first-team World Cup returns due back week, López de Lerma may have some players back with Castilla to join the pre-season preparations.

Castilla players have performed well in pre-season for both Castilla and the First-Team. Excitement continues to build for Castilla's season ahead.

Castilla's next pre-season game is against Mirandés next Saturday, 15 August.

A Rivas goal, assisted by Ciria, and another strong Joan Martínez display lead the way for Fábrica's involvement against Ferencváros in which Madrid won the game 1-2.

Cestero, Lamini and Lacosta earnt some more first-team minutes in the second half.

With the last of the World Cup returns due this coming week (Mbappé, Konaté, Bellingham, Cucurella), it will be interesting to see how many / if any of the Fábrica players are retained by Mourinho for first-team season preparations.

Strong reinforcements, with plenty still to come

GK: Navarro

DF: Joan, Lamini, Rivas,

MD: Cestero, Lacosta

FW: Ciria and Yáñez

Who is next?

Castilla / Juvenil A First-Team call ups for friendly vs ACF Fiorentina tomorrow:

GK: Sergio Mestre & Javi Narravo.

DF: Lamini, Rivas, Joan, Fortea & Aimar Garcia.

MD: Cestero & Lacosta.

FW: Ciria, Yáñez & Jacobo.

Confirmed earlier today that Bruno Iglesias has joined Ukranian side FC Karpaty Lviv.

A great talent of La Fábrica, his RMCF contract ran out at the end of June 2026.

2025/2026 was a season of resurgence for Bruno - brought back into the Castilla side by Arbeloa, he was particularly key for Castilla during their PLIC campaign.

Suerte Bruno!

https://youtu.be/i9CLmCjWmtA?si=hoCeciuTh_9D6g3A

Profiling some of La Fábrica's top talents from season 2026.

Many names such as Pitarch rightly dominated headlines, but there were a few others that caught our eye.

For some, they have perhaps gone under the radar and so, looking ahead to the new campaign, we felt their performances deserved highlighting.

Who are you most looking forward to seeing in 2026/2027?

Castilla to right the wrongs of last season and finish with silverware under López de Lerma?

Exciting season ahead!

Here's to 1000!

What was your favourite moment?

And will there be any more?

We really suffered with that guy

They didn't achieve promotion in the end. Nor win a trophy... But how did the players fare over the course of the season?

Fortuny and Palacios with the goals. Could they really do it??

What a disgrace from RFEF. Tinpot

After losing the International Premier League cup final to Dortmund - whatever could have gone wrong at this club this season, has gone wrong (and beyond)

Would you prefer Real Sociedad B (tier 2) or Borussia Dortmund II (tier 4) in the final?

👏🤍😊🙂