2017–18 Levante UD Femenino season

The 2017–18 season of Levante UD Femenino was the 19th season of the women's team of football club Levante UD. The team was 8th in Primera División and a quarterfinalist in the Copa de la Reina.

Levante UD Femenino

2017–18 season
Chairman	Quico Catalán
Manager	Andrés Tudela (until February 13) Kino García
Stadium	Buñol Sports City
Primera División	Eighth
Copa de la Reina	Quarterfinalist
Top goalscorer	Charlyn Corral (25)
Highest home attendance	14,000
Lowest home attendance	50
Home colours Away colours Third colours

Season summary

Levante had ended the previous season's championship in the 4th position, same as in 2015–16, ending the league campaign on a positive note by defeating Barcelona, which needed a victory and an Atlético Madrid miss to win the title, after a 4-game away losing streak including a record 6–0 defeat against local rival Valencia in Mestalla before an attendance of 17,000.[1] Valencia ended the competition third with an unseen 11 point advantage over Levante.

Few days later it was reported in the media that the squad's captains had expressed a lack of tune with manager Andrés Tudela, who had its contract renewed for two more seasons in April,[2] along with objections to the planning of the trainings and an alleged lack of functionality in the section's structure in a meeting with the club's chairman, Quico Catalán.[3] After a loss against lower-ranked Granadilla in the Copa de la Reina's quarterfinals against lower-ranked Granadilla put an end to the season, it was reported that this rift would likely result in the departure of over half the squad.[4]

In the end ten players left the team in the summer transfer market, including internationals Noelia Bermúdez, Raquel Infante, Olivia Oprea, Nagore Calderón, Adriana Martín and María José Pérez, with Bermúdez joining Valencia along with Andrea Esteban. Levante signed Noelia Ramos, Patricia Padilla, Natalia Ramos, Alba Aznar, Marta Cardona and 6-times league champion Miriam Diéguez within Primera División, and Greta Espinoza, 2017 Euro finalist Sofie Junge Pedersen and Jéssica Silva from abroad. After five seasons working on a €250,000 budget, the team's was increased to €300,000, the highest in nearly a decade.[5]

Levante won 7 of the 13 first games of the championship, settling in the 4th position near the halfway point of the league with two victories over direct rivals Athletic Bilbao and Valencia. However, two wide losses against Atlético and Barcelona started a 5-games losing streak and by February the team had plummeted to the 8th position.[6] On February 13, Andrés Tudela was sacked following a draw against newly-promoted Madrid. It was the third dismissal of a manager in the campaign, after Real Sociedad's Juanjo Arregi and Madrid's Jesús Núñez.[7]

Tudela was replaced by Kino García, the coach of the section's B team.[8] After a 0–6 debut rout over Espanyol, the team attained an essential three home games winning streak, but lost the remaining seven games in the championship and ended it in the 8th spot, barely qualifying for the Copa de la Reina on the head-to-head over Sporting Huelva thanks to Madrid losing its last game.[9] This was Levante's worst result in the championship since the 2010–11 season, after six seasons always ending either 4th or 5th. Charlyn Corral scored 25 goals, more than those scored by the rest of the team combined, and she was the top scorer of the championship with a five goals over Atlético's Sonia Bermúdez.[10] She is to become the second Mexican player awarded the Pichichi Trophy after Hugo Sánchez.[11]

In the Copa de la Reina Levante faced defending champion Barcelona in the quarterfinals, and lost both games by single goals scored by former Levante player Alexia Putellas.[12]

Transfers

In					Out
Date	Pos.	Player	Origin		Date	Pos.	Player	Destination
24 May 2017	DF	Patricia Padilla [13]	Albacete		9 Jun 2017	MF	Alba Merino [14]	Santa Teresa
7 Jun 2017	MF	Alba Aznar [15]	Zaragoza		14 Jun 2017	DF	Mariajo Rocafull [16]	Aldaia
7 Jun 2017	MF	Marta Cardona [17]	Zaragoza		16 Jun 2017	FW	Adriana Martín [18]	Málaga
20 Jun 2017	GK	Noelia Ramos [19]	Granadilla		30 Jun 2017	FW	Sheila Guijarro [20]	Málaga
20 Jun 2017	DF	Natalia Ramos	Granadilla		2 Jul 2017	DF	Nagore Calderón [21]	Sevilla
30 Jun 2017	FW	Jéssica Silva [22]	Sporting Braga		4 Jul 2017	FW	María José Pérez [23]	Granadilla
4 Jul 2017	DF	Greta Espinoza [24]	Oregon State Beavers		6 Jul 2017	FW	Andrea Esteban [25]	Valencia ^(2017–18)
9 Aug 2017	MF	Miriam Diéguez [26]	Barcelona ^(2016–17)		7 Jul 2017	GK	Noelia Bermúdez [27]	Valencia ^(2017–18)
11 Aug 2017	MF	Sofie Junge Pedersen [28]	Rosengård		19 Jul 2017	DF	Olivia Oprea [29]	Sevilla
					10 Aug, 2017	DF	Raquel Infante [30]	Rodez

Results

Pre-season

4 August 2017 COTIF – G1	Valencia	1–0	Levante	L'Alcúdia
	Borini  67'	Report

6 August 2017 COTIF – G2	Levante	2–1	Morocco (national team)	L'Alcúdia
	Gutiérrez  35' Casado  55'	Report	Hayat  30'

8 August 2017 COTIF – G3	Levante	2–3	Atlético Madrid	L'Alcúdia
	Corral  11', 16'	Report	Calligaris  30' Falcón  42', 72'

10 August 2017 COTIF – G4	Levante	1–0	Albi	L'Alcúdia
	Merino  51'	Report

19 August 2017 Friendly	Levante	3–2	Aldaia	Buñol
	Corral  16', 37', 43'	Report	Pinel Cañaveras

22 August 2017 Friendly	Zaragoza	0–0	Levante	Zaragoza
		Report

26 August 2017 Friendly	Albacete	1–3	Levante	Albacete
	Matsukawa  66'	Report	Corral  40' Jiménez  55', ?'

Primera División

3 September 2017 1	Levante	1–1	Madrid	Paiporta
17:00	Corral  2'	Report	Mascaró  16'	Stadium: El Terrer Municipal Field Attendance: 600 Referee: Huerta de Aza

10 September 2017 2	Granadilla	1–2	Levante	Granadilla de Abona
13:00	Pérez  45'	Report	Guehai  25' Corral  60'	Stadium: Francisco Suárez Football Field Attendance: 600 Referee: Sánchez Miguel

23 September 2017 3	Levante	0–1	Betis	Buñol
16:00		Report	Parra  78'	Stadium: Buñol Sports City Attendance: 350 Referee: Acevedo Dudley

1 October 2017 4	Sevilla	5–5	Levante	Sevilla
12:00	Piemonte  18', 62' Carmona  47' Albarrán  69' Morilla  85'	Report	da Silva  2', 53' Corral  42', 65' Na. Ramos  44'	Stadium: Viejo Nervión Stadium Attendance: 300 Referee: Kinga-Hajnalka

8 October 2017 5	Levante	1–1	Espanyol	Buñol
12:00	Corral  33'	Report	Roque  90+6'	Stadium: Buñol Sports City Attendance: 300 Referee: Villegas Navas

14 October 2017 6	Rayo Vallecano	0–4	Levante	Madrid
16:00		Report	Corral  25', 79' Pedersen  49' Corral  79'	Stadium: Rayo Vallecano Fundation Sports City Attendance: 250 Referee: Frías Acedo

29 October 2017 7	Sporting Huelva	0–1	Levante	Huelva
12:15		Report	Corral  48'	Stadium: La Orden Federative Fields Attendance: 400 Referee: Líndez Ciurana

4 November 2017 8	Levante	5–1	Zaragoza	Buñol
16:00	da Silva  18', 61' Corral  49', 90+2' Pérez  90+6'	Report	López  56'	Stadium: Buñol Sports City Attendance: 250 Referee: González Sánchez

9 November 2017 9	Albacete	1–0	Levante	Albacete
18:30	Rodríguez  34'	Report		Stadium: Andrés Iniesta Sports City Attendance: 568 Referee: Martínez Martínez

18 November 2017 10	Levante	1–1	Real Sociedad	Buñol
10:45	Guehai  89'	Report	Zornoza  31'	Stadium: Buñol Sports City Attendance: 350 Referee: Prieto Martínez

3 December 2017 11	Santa Teresa	0–3	Levante	Badajoz
12:00		Report	Casado  11', 77' Corral  80'	Stadium: El Viejo Vivero Sports City Attendance: 500 Referee: Fernández Ceferino

6 December 2017 12	Levante	3–2	Athletic Bilbao	Buñol
10:45	Corral  16', 21', 32'	Report	Díez  39' Gimbert  77'	Stadium: Buñol Sports City Attendance: 350 Referee: Prieto Martínez

3 December 2017 13	Valencia	2–3	Levante UD	Paterna
10:45	Vilas  36' Peiró  90+1'	Report	Álvarez  62' (pen.) Casado  75', 82'	Stadium: Antoni Puchades Stadium Attendance: 1,600 Referee: Huerta de Aza

16 December 2017 14	Levante	0–4	Atlético Madrid	Buñol
16:00		Report	da Silva  28', 47' Sampedro  49' Sosa  75'	Stadium: Buñol Sports City Attendance: 350 Referee: Martínez Madrona

7 January 2018 15	Barcelona	5–0	Levante	Sant Joan Despí
13:00	Bussaglia  9' Guijarro  13', 23' Putellas  43' Martens  55'	Report		Stadium: Joan Gamper Sports City Attendance: 670 Referee: Villegas Navas

13 January 2018 16	Madrid	2–1	Levante	San Sebastián de los Reyes
16:00	Mascaró  68' Boho  85'	Report	Corral  22' (pen.)	Stadium: Matapiñonera Municipal Stadium Attendance: 150 Referee: Fernández Ceferino

28 January 2018 17	Levante	0–1	Granadilla	Buñol
12:00		Report	Pérez  72'	Stadium: Buñol Sports City Attendance: 50 Referee: González González

4 February 2018 18	Betis	2–0	Levante	Seville
13:00	Moreno  30', 65'	Report		Stadium: Luis del Sol Sports City Attendance: 418 Referee: Cebollada López

10 February 2018 19	Levante	1–1	Sevilla	Buñol
10:45	Corral  86'	Report	Morilla  6'	Stadium: Buñol Sports City Attendance: 150 Referee: Martínez Martínez

18 February 2018 20	Espanyol	0–6	Levante	Sant Adrià de Besòs
12:30		Report	Corral  4', 16', 56', 80' Prim  19' Pérez  67' (o.g.)	Stadium: Dani Jarque Sports City Attendance: 325 Referee: Prieto Martínez

25 February 2018 21	Levante	2–3	Rayo Vallecano	Buñol
12:00	López  25' Marín  79'	Report	Pablos  9' (pen.), 55' Morales  84'	Stadium: Buñol Sports City Attendance: 275 Referee: Sánchez Miguel

11 March 2018 22	Levante	2–1	Sporting Huelva	Buñol
12:45	Casado  75' Corral  76'	Report	Bernal  38'	Stadium: Buñol Sports City Attendance: 256 Referee: Rivera Olmedo

18 March 2018 23	Zaragoza	3–0	Levante	Zaragoza
12:00	Darlene  5' Mayara  27' Mallada  68'	Report		Stadium: Pedro Sancho Stadium Attendance: 550 Referee: Arregui Gamir

24 March 2018 24	Levante	4–2	Albacete	Buñol
16:30	Casado  74' Guehai  76' Matsukawa  78' (o.g.) Corral  84'	Report	Redondo  13', 90'	Stadium: Buñol Sports City Attendance: 200 Referee: Villegas Navas

30 March 2018 25	Real Sociedad	2–1	Levante	Lasarte-Oria
12:00	García  21' Ramajo  37'	Report	Pérez  51'	Stadium: Zubieta Facilities Attendance: 1,000 Referee: González Sánchez

15 April 2018 26	Levante	3–0	Santa Teresa	Buñol
12:00	Corral  13' (pen.), 62', 90+1'	Report		Stadium: Buñol Sports City Attendance: 250 Referee: Huerta de Aza

21 April 2018 27	Athletic Bilbao	1–0	Levante	Lezama
10:45	Vázquez  12'	Report		Stadium: Lezama Facilities Attendance: 526 Referee: Kinga-Hajnalka

28 April 2018 28	Levante	0–1	Valencia	València
13:00		Report	Lomba  36'	Stadium: Ciutat de València Stadium Attendance: 14,000 Referee: Martínez Madrona

5 May 2018 29	Atlético Madrid	1–0	Levante	Majadahonda
18:15	Bermúdez  3'	Report		Stadium: Cerro del Espino Mini Stadium Attendance: 1,224 Referee: Frías Acedo

13 May 2018 30	Levante	0–5	Barcelona	Buñol
16:00		Report	Guijarro  18' Martens  30' Torrjeón  60' Andressa  65' Andonova  85'	Stadium: Buñol Sports City Attendance: 600 Referee: González González

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
6	Real Betis	30	14	4	12	40	37	+3	46	Qualification for the Copa de la Reina
7	Real Sociedad	30	10	8	12	42	37	+5	38[lower-alpha 1]
8	Levante	30	11	5	14	49	50	−1	38[lower-alpha 1]
9	Sporting de Huelva	30	11	5	14	35	42	−7	38[lower-alpha 1]
10	Madrid CFF	30	10	6	14	34	56	−22	36

Source: La Liga, Soccerway
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) head-to-head points; 3) goal difference; 4) number of goals scored
Notes:

1. Levante 1–1 1–2 Real Sociedad; Sporting Huelva 0–1 1–2 Levante

Copa de la Reina

20 May 2018 QF – L1	Barcelona	1–0	Levante	Sant Joan Despí
16:00	Putellas  53'	Report		Stadium: Joan Gamper Sports City Attendance: 309 Referee: Villegas Navas

23 May 2018 QF – L2	Levante	0–1	Levante	Buñol
17:00		Report	Putellas  82'	Stadium: Buñol Sports City Attendance: 600 Referee: Peláez Arnillas

Primera División statistics

No.	Pos.	Born	Since	FIFA		Player	Games	Goals	Disciplinary record
				Nationality	FC
1	GK	1999	2016–17	Spain		Sandra Torres	6	0	0	0
2	DF	1995	2017–18	Mexico	2014	Greta Espinoza	15	0	1	0
3	DF	1996	2017–18	Spain		Patricia Padilla	0	0	0	0
4	DF	1984	2011–12	Spain		Sonia Prim	27	1	7	1
5	MF	1994	2013–14	Spain		Laura Gutiérrez	24	0	7	0
6	DF	1998	2015–16	Spain		Andrea Palacios	6	0	1	0
7	MF	1992	2012–13	Spain		Ana Buceta	6	0	0	0
8	FW	1996	2015–16	Spain		Lucía Gómez	28	0	5	0
9	MF	1995	2015–16	Spain		Maitane López	27	1	3	1
10	FW	1991	2015–16	Mexico	2011	Charlyn Corral	29	25	5	0
11	MF	1993	2017–18	Spain		Alba Aznar	21	0	1	0
12	FW	1998	2017–18	Spain		Maribel Ortega	4	0	0	0
13	GK	1999	2017–18	Spain		Noelia Ramos	24	0	0	0
14	MF	1994	2011–12	Spain		Nerea Pérez	25	2	3	0
15	DF	1999	2017–18	Spain		Natalia Ramos	21	3	3	0
16	MF	1986	2017–18	Spain	2005	Miriam Diéguez	30	0	3	0
17	FW	1990	2012–13	Spain	2009	Alharilla Casado	30	6	4	0
18	FW	1994	2017–18	Portugal	2011	Jéssica Silva	20	4	2	0
19	MF	1995	2017–18	Spain		Marta Cardona	27	0	2	0
20	MF	1994	2016–17	Ivory Coast	2011	Ida Guehai	19	3	2	0
21	MF	1996	2014–15	Spain		Carol Marín	19	1	0	0
22	MF	1992	2017–18	Denmark	2011	Sofie Junge Pedersen	24	1	1	0
30	DF	1997	2016–17	Spain		Andrea Jiménez	1	0	0	0

References

1. Valencia wins by a landslide in a historical women's derby before 17,000 spectators. El Mundo (in Spanish), 23 April 2017
2. Official: renewed the manager of Levante Femenino. Super Deporte (in Spanish), 5 April 2017
3. Divorce in the women's team. Levante-EMV (in Spanish), 9 June 2017
4. Lack of tune with the mister and unprecedented revolution in Levante UD Femenino. Super Deporte (in Spanish), 12 June 2017.
5. The 'Súper Levante' of the half million euros. Super Deporte (in Spanish), 23 July 2018
6. Week 18 Primera División table in Mundo Deportivo's website
7. Andrés Tudela, dismissed as Levante's manager. Marca (in Spanish), 14 February 2018
8. Kino, new manager of Levante after Tudela's dismissal. As (in Spanish), 14 February 2018
9. Levante loses but qualifies for the Cup. Levante-EMV (in Spanish), 13 May 2018
10. Charlyn Corral, the Mexican that has 'goleado' the Spanish league El País (in Spanish), 13 May 2018
11. Charlyn Corral adjudicates herself Spain's Pichichi. Récord (in Spanish), 13 May 2018
12. Alexia Putellas again rescues Barcelona against Levante. Marca (in Spanish), 23 May 2018
13. Patri Padilla moves to Levante. Aúpa Alba (in Spanish), 24 May 2017.
14. Santa Teresa attains the return of Alba Merino. El Periódico de Extremadura (in Spanish), 9 June 2017.
15. Alba Aznar, new incorporation to Levante UD Femenino. El Desmarque (in Spanish), 07 June 2017.
16. Mariajo Rocafull signs for UD Aldaia after leaving Levante UD Femenino. Som Granotes (in Spanish), 14 June 2017.
17. Alba Aznar and Marta Cardona, new players of Levante UD Femenino. Macho Levante (in Spanish), 07 June 2017.
18. The international Adriana Martín, signed by the Femenino. El Remate Málaga (in Spanish), 16 June 2017.
19. Double ration of Ramos for Levante Femenino. El Desmarque (in Spanish), 20 June 2017.
20. Sheila Guijarro, a deluxe reinforcement for the Femenino. El Remate Málaga (in Spanish), 30 June 2017.
21. Nagore Calderón is Sevilla's second signing. Diario de Sevilla (in Spanish), 2 July 2017.
22. Levante UD Femenino signs Portuguese international player Jéssica Silva. Levante-EMV (in Spanish), 30 June 2017.
23. UD Granadilla officializes the incorporation of María José Pérez. La Opinión de Tenerife (in Spanish), 4 July 2017.
24. Greta Espinoza, international for Mexico, signs for Levante Femenino. Super Deporte (in Spanish), 4 July 2017.
25. Valencia CF Femenino signs Andrea Esteban, from Levante UD. Las Provincias (in Spanish), 6 July 2017.
26. Miriam Diéguez signs for Levante UD Femenino. El Desmarque (in Spanish), 9 August 2017.
27. Noelia Bermúdez, from Levante UD to Valencia CF. Las Provincias (in Spanish), 7 July 2017.
28. Danish European Championship silver medal-winner moves to Spanish football. Danmarks Radio (in Danish), 11 August 2017.
29. Romania's Olivia Oprea returns to Sevilla Femenino from Levante. ABC (in Danish), 19 July 2017.
30. Raquel Infante leaves Levante UD. Futebol Feminino Portugal (in Portuguese), 19 July 2017.