NOS Football••Amended
Football players FC Twente give up victory over Real Madrid in the final seconds
The football players of FC Twente ended their Champions League campaign with a draw against Real Madrid.
For a long time, excellent Twente seemed to be on their way to a deserved stunt, but in the last second of injury time the equalizer was scored. Jaimy Ravensbergen scored 1-0 shortly after halftime, Sara Däbritz made it 1-1 in the 95th minute.
Trainer Corina Dekker was disappointed with the late equalizer, but was especially proud of her team. “Did I sign for a point in advance? Absolutely. If he falls four seconds before the end, it is a bit painful.”
Qualification for the knockout phase was no longer possible in advance. Ultimately, Twente finished fifteenth in the rankings.
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The final group stage standings in the 2025/2026 Women’s Champions League. -
The results in the final round of the Champions League for women.
The opening phase in the Grolsch Veste was for Real Madrid, twice last year far too strong for FC Twente. The Spanish team also thought they could take the lead through the German Sara Däbritz. However, the VAR had seen that a player from ‘De Koninklijke’ had been offside at the start of the attack. And so that goal was canceled.
After fifteen minutes, coach Corina Dekker’s team came out of its shell. That didn’t result in a goal, but it did result in a few highlights. First, Sophie Proost hit the Spanish crossbar with a flaming shot. Then Jaimy Ravensbergen changed the direction of a bet with her heel, almost putting goalkeeper Misa Rodriguez on the wrong foot.
As Van der Vaart
And captain Danique van Ginkel provided the most beautiful moment, when, as Rafael van der Vaart, she once sent a corner kick with her heel to the far corner against Feyenoord. The attempt deserved a goal, but went narrowly wide.
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Outstanding Jill Roord gets rid of two Real Madrid opponents. -
Danique van Ginkel blocks a cross from substitute Athenea.
An even match then developed with opportunities on both sides. Left back Alieke Tuin almost surprised goalkeeper Misa with a long cross that flew towards the intersection.
Goalkeeper Diede Lemey also distinguished herself when Naomie Feller suddenly appeared in front of her, free of charge. Real Madrid’s French attacker had the choice of the corner, but shot the ball hard against the Belgian goalie.
A little later, Feller got another giant chance, but now it was brand new Dutch national team Lieke Carleer who threw himself for the shot.
Head start Twente
Shortly after halftime, Twente took the lead through Ravensbergen, who headed a cross from Tuin into the goal: 1-0. And Twente had more chances, but Real escaped a bigger deficit.
On the other hand, goalkeeper Lemey had to stretch after a nice free kick from Caroline Weir. And moments later, Däbritz headed onto the crossbar and striker Alba Redondo incomprehensibly forgot to put the rebound into the goal.
In the final phase, Twente often had to retreat, but the victory was no longer really in danger. Until the last second of the five minutes of extra time.
Däbritz took aim at the goal, her shot was deflected by Lynn Groenewegen and ended up in the goal: 1-1.
Sour, but proud
“Very sad,” said captain Van Ginkel. “I think we deserved more today. But I am very proud of the team, the entire Champions League. We played very good games against Chelsea and Benfica and also tonight. Leuven then kills you. That still hurts a lot.”
Goalgetter Ravensbergen has also sometimes thought back to that unnecessary defeat in Leuven, when the decision also fell in the final seconds. “Of course that is sad. But I am also happy for Kim Everaert, from FC Twente last year. She is doing very well there and it is very nice for her. And we can be proud and will simply focus on the Premier League again.”
Trainer Dekker thought so too. “Before the match, I showed the girls a film of what we did at European level. The message was that they should also look back with pride. We set goals and we achieved them all. This match wasn’t going to change much of that.”
‘Wiegman coach of the year? About time!’
And then there was the news that Sarina Wiegman was the first woman to be named coach of the year on Wednesday evening. “It is high time that we start recognizing coaches based on quality and no longer based on gender,” Dekker said. “I am very happy that Sarina won. And rightly so, you should look at what she does. A lot of coaches can dream of that. Me too, for sure.”
Twente coach Dekker saw stunt against Real Madrid go up in smoke: ‘Four seconds too long’
FC Twente ends the Champions League adventure without a victory, but with a truckload of experience and a full wallet.
The total earnings of the football players this campaign amount to approximately 710,000 euros. This covers a large part of the budget of the women’s national champion.
