Carlo Ancelotti’s Real Madrid suffered a shock defeat at the hands of Steven Gerrard’s Rangers. Meanwhile, Jose Mourinho’s AS Roma continued their fine form by hitting five past Debrecen.
Real travelled to Glasgow to play newly-crowned Scottish champions Rangers in their latest pre-season friendly. Los Blancos went into the match on the back of a win and a draw against Fuenlabrada and Rayo Vallecano, respectively, but were beaten by Rangers 2-1 despite Carlo Ancelotti naming a strong side.
The returning head coach named a side filled with bench players and reserves. Nonetheless, Madrid boasted incredible strength in their playing eleven through Luka Jovic, Rodrygo, Martin Odegaard and Marcelo. Los Blancos started the game positively, taking the lead in the eighth minute through Rodrygo.
Rangers hit back after the break, with Fashion Sakala levelling the scores. From then on, Steven Gerrard’s men piled the pressure on the thirteen-time European champions, which ultimately resulted in Nacho making an error that saw him dismissed midway through the second half.
Rangers recorded 21 shots on the night compared to Real Madrid’s five. Cedric Itten scored from one of those shots to make it 2-1 to the Scottish champions and settle the game in their favor.
Jose Mourinho’s Roma came from a goal down to beat Debrecen 5-2. The Giallorossi went behind after just four minutes, thanks to a goal from Donat Barany. However, Borja Mayoral and Lorenzo Pellegrini turned the game around in favour of the Romans before the half-time interval.
Mourinho sent on Nicolo Zaniolo and Edin Dzeko, amongst others, in the second half. Zaniolo scored in the 52nd minute, but a minute later, Debrecen made it 3-2 through Roland Ugrai. Dzeko restored Roma’s two-goal advantage in the 65th minute before putting the game beyond any reasonable doubt in the 80th.
Roma remained undefeated in pre-season under Mourinho and have scored 18 goals in four games, including a 10-0 win over Montecatini. The Giallorossi take on Mourinho’s former club Porto next before facing LaLiga outfit Real Betis.
