Paris Saint-Germain suffered a heavy 3-0 defeat against Spanish second division side Mallorca in a pre-season friendly match in Palma on Wednesday. The match in the Balearic Islands came one week before Paris Saint-Germain face Aston Villa in the European Super Cup.
Manager Luis Enrique fielded a young team featuring 16-year-old Axel Koukaba and 17-year-old David Boly alongside key players Matvey Safonov and Khvicha Kvaratskhelia. Captain Marquinhos and Portuguese players João Neves, Vitinha, and Nuno Mendes returned from vacation on Monday and did not travel. Spanish world champion Fabián Ruiz, Moroccan Achraf Hakimi, and French players Barcola, Doué, Dembélé, Zaïre-Emery, and Hernandez will return in the coming days.
Match action and upcoming schedule
Paris Saint-Germain started well when Ibrahim Mbaye hit the crossbar, but Zito Luvumbo beat Safonov from a tight angle one minute later to open the scoring in the 21st minute. A mistake by Illya Zabarnyi in the 40th minute set up a Mallorca counter-attack scored by Jan Virgili with a chipped shot. Lucas Chevalier entered in goal after halftime, but Mallorca captain Antonio Raillo added a third goal with a header from a corner in the 51st minute.
Paris Saint-Germain play Manchester United in Gothenburg, Sweden, on Saturday in their second preparation match. The double European champions then face Europa League winners Aston Villa in Salzburg next Wednesday, before playing French Cup winners and Ligue 1 runners-up Lens at Stade Bollaert for the Trophée des champions on August 16. Their Ligue 1 season begins on Sunday, August 23, against Stade Rennais at the Parc des Princes.
