In the first leg of the Spanish Super Cup, David Beckham's Real Madrid lose 2-1

In the first leg of the Spanish Super Cup, David Beckham's Real Madrid lose 2-1 away to Copa del Rey holders Real Mallorca...

It was a stumbling performance from Carlos Queiroz's side as they stuggled to match the pace of the game dictated to them by Mallorca.

Beckham took his place in Real's midfield which took effectively the same shape as last season, with two deep lying midfielders operating behind three more attack-minded players with the solitary Ronaldo upfront.

Against Mallorca, this meant that Beckham played alongside Argentine youngster Esteban Cambiasso but behind the great trio of Figo, Raul and Zidane in a position which was taken by the outstanding Claude Makelele throughout the whole of last season.

In this role, the England captain found that it was only when Raul made long-lasting forays forward, and Real flicked into a more 4-4-2 style formation, that he could move further forward to take up his true place in the heart of the Real side.

Maybe because of this 'deeper' role, Beckham had another quiet game for his new club and ultimately was substituted after 55 minutes.  In his one true contribution to the game, Beckham showed what new dimension he can bring to the Spanish champions when he supplied a delicious cross for Portuguese star Figo to score after 18 minutes.

After that, though, Mallorca took control and goals from Arnold Bruggink and Samuel Eto'o swept them to victory. Real have it all to do in the return match at the Bernabeu on Wednesday night but Figo's away goal may just be enough.

After the match, coach Queiroz explained his decision to bring Beckham off with 40 minutes left: "We had to sacrifice one of our attacking players because I needed someone with Makelele's experience in the middle. David was the person I chose but it doesn't mean he had a bad game."

David Beckham - Match Statistics

 

Teams

Real Mallorca: Leo Franco; Cortés, Niño, Nadal, Poli; Campano (Jovan Stankovic, 64), Marcos, Ibagaza, Toni González (Nagore, 62); Bruggink (Perera, 79), Eto'o.

Real Madrid: Casillas; Salgado, Helguera, Pavón (Raúl Bravo, 53), Roberto Carlos; Beckham (Makelele, 53), Cambiasso (Guti, 75), Zidane, Figo; Raúl, Ronaldo.

Referee: Pérez Burrul

Bookings: Ronaldo, Zidane

 

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