José Mourinho’s Real Madrid let a two-goal lead slip to draw 2-2 with Fiorentina in a pre-season friendly at the Worthersee Stadion in Klagenfurt on Saturday, with Roberto Piccoli and Moise Kean cancelling out goals from Endrick and Alexis Ciria.
Two goals surrendered in Klagenfurt
Madrid made a brisk start, with Endrick breaking the deadlock after 12 minutes when Marc Carreras burst down the left and rolled the ball across for the Brazilian to take a touch, escape Luca Ranieri and finish past David De Gea, the Italian goalkeeper now lining up on the Fiorentina side of this particular equation. Eduardo Camavinga then provided the assist for Ciria to make it 2-0 on 24 minutes, and the result appeared straightforward enough.
Fiorentina had other ideas. Piccoli pulled one back on 41 minutes by running onto an Alex Jimenez pass and drilling an angled effort past Andriy Lunin. Kean – introduced from the bench – needed all of 120 seconds to level matters, nodding in a floated Niccolò Fagioli cross from the left to make it 2-2 on 58 minutes. Kean nearly won it late on, only for Lunin to parry his strike well.
Denzel Dumfries, the former Inter right-back who completed his move to Madrid this summer, made his full debut for Los Blancos. Arda Güler tested De Gea with a free kick that the Spaniard did well to parry, though overall Madrid’s second-half defensive structure offered Grosso’s side too much space in behind.
Fiorentina’s rebuild on show
New Fiorentina coach Fabio Grosso – tasked with rescuing a club that barely avoided relegation last season – set his side out in a 4-3-1-2 with four new signings in the starting XI. The Viola were far more focused after the interval, with Albert Gudmundsson and Rolando Mandragora both forcing the issue before Kean settled matters.
Victor Valdepenas came on for Fiorentina against his former club, hours after completing his transfer to the Viola. Football Italia report that Franco Mastantuono is the next player on Grosso’s summer wishlist.
What comes next for Mourinho’s side
For Madrid, the scoreline matters considerably less than the minutes logged. Trent Alexander-Arnold featured, Camavinga looked lively in the middle, and Dumfries got a first run-out in a Madrid shirt. Further friendlies are expected before the competitive season kicks off, giving the Portuguese coach more time to sharpen a defensive structure that visibly required attention here.
