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London City Lionesses complete their pre-season campaign undefeated with a 1-0 win over Atletico Madrid at the CopperaJax Community Stadium. The only goal of the game came from Danielle Van De Donk as she makes it three in her last three games to go into the WSL season in strong form. Maestre labelled the display as “dominant” as he was happy with “not just the result but the performance” against an Atletico Madrid side who narrowly missed out on Champions League football. Close opportunities came for both sides, with Atletico Madrid being denied an equaliser after Elene Lete’s brilliant save stopped a wonderful curling effort from Rosa Otermin from outside the box. Who is taking the captaincy for the London City? Talks before the game were about who would take captaincy for the season, but Maestre said “The decision is done because the team was involved in the process,” when asked about the situation. “The captaincy is set up through the team, and the vision [they have]. I think we have a very powerful captainship.”, believes Maestre. Alexia Putellas and Danielle Van De Donk seem to be the most likely candidates for the captaincy after taking the role for 65 minutes, but the team’s collective decision has not been confirmed. The full report London City were on top for the whole first half, stopping Madrid having a single shot on target. French winger Delphine Cascarino got a lot of joy out on the left hand side, getting behind the opposition multiple times. After 20 minutes, she managed to get in behind for a third time and found fellow winger Janni Thomsen, whose first time shot took a minor deflection onto the inside of the post, before it rolled across the line and wide to put City agonisingly close to the opener. After a hydration break, City wasted no time in trying to score. After a great threaded pass into Maria Perez, second half captain Danielle Van De Donk managed to play the ball across goal to Delphine Cascarino, who managed to convert with a composed finish, but the goal was ruled out for offside. City knocked on the door of the Spaniards, and it ended up being the number 10 who converted. Van De Donk was on the receiving end of a pass across goal, where she took a touch and wrong sided Gallardo in the Madrid goal to open the scoring. City manager Maestre wants to bring a new style to allow expression amongst his team, which was shown in this game. Maestre said, “This is the fluency I want in my team [when answering why he switched from a back three to a back four], in terms of space and opportunities. So it’s not trying to be maverick in one shape, it’s about how is the opponent shaped, the opening trends, and from that finding the most clinical spaces to overcome brake lines and create that collective freedom.” This was shown in his fluidity to rotate Alanna Kennedy from midfield to defence in order to allow the full backs to push up, as well as bringing Van De Donk into the midfield from striker in order to get the ball out wide and help build up the attack. This was continued in the second half, but Atletico Madrid were able to get into the game more as they held the ball up for longer in the City half, allowing them to have a few chances. Elene Lete’s late heroics stopped a brilliant curling effort from Atletico Madrid substitute Rosa Otermin, whilst also managing to come out and block Amaiur Sarriegi’s shot from close range five minutes from time. The full-time victory confirms the Lionesses unbeaten run in-pre season which has made the City boss very happy with the progression of the squad with what he said were a blend of “cultures” he has tried balancing through the camp. There was also success for the academy today, with 17-year-olds Aya El Bergui and Sienna Loom, who both gave good accounts of themselves today to show the clear path to first team football is possible from the London academy. Next up for London City Next up is a trip to Olympique Lyon, regarded as one of the world’s best teams, before an opening day clash at home to Manchester United on Friday 4th September in the WSL.