The Málaga closed their Ibero-American tour with a prestigious victory against Peñarol. It was a match with two very different halves, a very bad first half for the Malaga team and a second half where Javi Gracia's team grew as the Uruguayan team stiffened their proposal and in 18 immense minutes they turned the score around and ended up playing beautiful football and crushing their opponent. There were three red cards and six yellow cards. Too much for a friendly match...
Once again, Javi Gracia rotated his starting eleven, although increasingly interesting things are starting to be seen. Once again, Albentosa and Weligton seemed to form the central defense. Juankar as the left back and Miguel Torres shifting to the right. Juanpi, from the right wing, again in midfield with Tissone. Ricardo Horta on the right, Tighadouini on the left wing, playmaker Duda, and striker Charles. In Peñarol, several well-known faces. On the bench, Pablo Bengoechea, former Sevilla player, and on the field Zalayeta, another former Sevilla player who is still going strong, or Ifrán, former Real Sociedad player. Diego Forlán did not make his debut.
Málaga started creating danger with two shots by Thigadouini in the seventh minute and by Duda in the 11th. But at 23 minutes, Málaga's defense made a tremendous error, leaving Ifrán alone in a one-on-one with Kameni, whom he beat in two attempts. Ifrán had already scored against Málaga during his time in San Sebastián. Javi Gracia's anger with his players could be heard with a sentence that, if it comes out in TV highlights, could become famous: "We need to be more attentive, d..." or this one: "D..., we didn't come here on vacation."
When Málaga played their worst, Tigha left the ball for Chales who, with a spectacular scissor kick, almost scored the 1-1. The first half ended as the worst first half played by Málaga so far in preseason.
Málaga started the second half better. Recio replaced Tissone and Rosales replaced Juankar, with Miguel Torres moving to the left back position. In the 51st minute, a good play by Horta with an assist to Charles was not capitalized on by the restless Brazilian forward. In the 60th minute, Javi Gracia substituted Amrabat and Cop for Juanpi and Horta. Once again, he relied on two goal scorers with the Croatian and the Brazilian. With them, Málaga gained power up front. The match became more intense and in the 69th minute, Recio was sent off for a studs-up challenge on Nandez. In the 71st minute, a great play by Amrabat was converted into a goal by Cop. It was the Croatian's third goal. Simultaneously, Palacios was sent off. Both teams were left with 10 players and Peñarol lost their composure.
Málaga grew stronger. In the 81st minute, Duda, with a masterful free-kick, placed the score at 1-2. The mythical Centenario, already quiet, froze with the third goal scored by Roberto Rosales. Málaga ended the match very well after a bad start.