On February 8, 2026, Real Madrid Femenino faced off against Espanyol at the Alfredo Di Stéfano Stadium in front of a crowd of 945 spectators, delivering a commanding performance en route to a 3–0 win.
From the first whistle, Real Madrid Femenino stamped their authority on the 19th-round Liga F clash, controlling possession and pressuring the Espanyol defence. Their early dominance paid off in the 6th minute when Athenea’s intelligent play set up Signe Bruun, who calmly finished inside the box to spark wild celebrations among the home support.
Madrid’s momentum continued full force. Just twelve minutes later, forward Athenea doubled the advantage, pouncing on a loose ball after a saved shot to power home Real Madrid Femenino’s second of the afternoon.
Espanyol showed brief signs of intent after halftime, but Real Madrid Femenino’s defensive organization kept them at bay. Madrid sealed the result in the 59th minute when Holmgaard capitalized on another well-worked opportunity to make it 3–0, a scoreline that would hold until full-time.
The victory marked Real Madrid’s 14th league win of the campaign, maintaining their strong form as they now turn their attention to upcoming challenges, including a crucial Women’s Champions League playoff clash.
Following our conversation about women in sport, I wanted to share the story of a woman I am proud to know in this industry. Her name is Olivia Capobianco, and I got her to share about her role, how she got there, and a career moment she is especially proud of.
My name is Olivia Capobianco, and I have been working in the sports industry for 2 years now. I graduated from the Sport Management program at Brock University in 2024 and was fortunate enough to obtain a full-time job 2 months prior to graduating. I am a coordinator on the sponsorship marketing team at an agency called WPP Media.
Before joining the team at WPP Media, I was privileged to have had many experiences while achieving my undergraduate degree, which included volunteering during the 2023 Grey Cup in Hamilton, getting to be part of the first inaugural PWHL Draft in Toronto, and being apart of the executive team for a sports business club and helped lead/put on networking events for other students.
In terms of my full-time role, I have been able to have been apart of a lot of cool campaigns for my clients. The one campaign I am most proud to have been a part of was our recent Olympics campaign for the 2026 Milano-Cortina Winter Olympics. I was able to take part in the campaign for Paris 2024, but I just joined the team when the campaign was close to being executed, so I didn’t really have much experience. However, for this recent campaign, I was involved from the very beginning and helped with the athlete contract negotiations, as well as spoke directly with their agents to coordinate all 4 athlete schedules to attend the commercial shoot. I was also able to attend the commercial shoot and see the behind-the-scenes action of what it takes to film a commercial spot, as well as gather all OOH digital imagery for the static assets. I also had a hand in negotiating the media buy with CBC to ensure our commercial got top placements within the Olympic events, which has overdelivered on the intended impressions. Even though there is still more for me to learn and be a part of, the Olympics campaign is definitely a highlight so far and something I was proud to have a hand in.
Stories like Olivia’s highlight the expanding influence of women across all areas of the sports industry—not only on the field, but behind the scenes where partnerships, strategy, and storytelling bring sport to life. As women’s sport continues to gain momentum globally, professionals like Olivia are helping drive that progress forward, proving that passion paired with persistence can open remarkable doors.
Her experience serves as both inspiration and reminder: the future of sport is being built by talented, driven women who are ready to lead it.
See you in the next post.