Friendly Fixtures 2003/2004

Although clubs have a busy calendar once the league and other competitions commence, there will be several friendly matches whenever time allows. We set out below details of those games which have come to our attention. Please bear in mind that all dates are provisional and are subject to change at short notice. Matches already played in red, games pending in blue, late changes in bold. For summer pre-season games see separate section. (09.06.04)

23 Sep Santiago Bernabeu trophy
XXV edition was postponed to this date due to Real Madrid's participation in the Supercup. Testimonial for honorary president Alfredo Di Stefano, who made his debut for the club exactly 50 years ago.
Real Madrid 3 (Portillo (2), Solari) - River Plate 0. Most of the stars played the first half, but Madrid ended with nine home-grown players on the park.
1 Oct Barcelona in Mexico
Took advantage of gap in calendar to travel to Mexico for match against América in the Azteca stadium. Lost though 2-0, with goals from the locals by Castillo and Oviedo. No less than 95,000 fans turned up to see Márquez dressed in blaugrana.
15 Nov Charity match "Drogas No"
The XII annual charity game for the fight against drugs (Proyecto Hombre). Usually celebrated in the ground of the league champions, but this year was at Atlético Madrid as part of their centenary celebrations. Final result: Atlético 2 (Toché, Ibagaza (Pen)) - Spanish League XI 3 (Riquelme, Giovanella, Javi Guerrero).
5/6 Nov Under 20 World Cup warm up games
Real Madrid B 0 - Spain under 20s 0; Warm up for youth World Cup. No goals from either side though.
Atlético Madrid B 3 - Spain under 20s 1; Second game. Gavilán put "la selección" ahead, but Manu (2) and Raúl Medina won it for the hosts.
16 Nov Porto 2 - Barcelona 0
Another friendly during an international gap. Both sides were missing many star players though, and Barça only had four of their regular first team available. Goals from Derlei (Pen) and Hugo Almeida in the second half.
4 Dec Málaga B 2 - Lokomotiv Moscow 3
The Russians prepared for their CL match with a friendly in Marbella. Málaga B's goals from Nacho and Calderón.
9 Dec Sabadell 1 - Barcelona 3
Whilst the other big clubs were playing their Champions' League fixtures, Barcelona were the guests for Sabadell's centenary celebrations at the Nova Creu Alta stadium. Rijkaard put out a strong side in preparation for the league game at Espanyol. Goals from Luis Eneique, Luis García and Saviola, with Alberto replying for the hosts.
27 Dec Andalucia 1 - Latvia 0
The usual round of regional matches took place during the winter break. Andalucia played their game at the Nuevo Colombino stadium in Huelva. Reyes and Diego Tristán starred, with Tristán getting the only goal from a first half free kick.
27 Dec Euskadi 2 - Uruguay 1
The Basque country once again put out a side at the San Mamés stadium against top class opposition, although they were missing their captain Mendieta, who was playing for Middlesborough at the time. The basis of the side was from Athletic Bilbao and Real Sociedad, although both goals came from Rayo Vallecano striker Bolo a couple of minutes either side of half time, the first from Gabilondo's cross and the second a header from Julen Guerrero's centre. Uruguay were missing many stars, and their goal came from Vigneri later in the second half.
27 Dec Comunidad Valenciana 1 - Cameroon 0
Another game for the Valencians, this time in Castellón's stadium. Missing some key players through injury, including Albelda, Raúl Bravo Juanfran and Rufete, although Farinós returned from Inter Milan and Vicente, Javi Moreno and Juan Sánchez spearheaded the attack. Moreno it was who scored the only goal from a pass by the other Juanfran, Real Madrid's under 20 international. Cameroon's side was unrecognisable, with Eto'o, Geremi etc all missing, and keeper Emane was their star player.
28 Dec Catalonia 4 - Ecuador 2
As usual the Catalan "selección" turned out again this winter. This time they played World Cup participants Ecuador in the Nou Camp. Guardiola returned from Qatar to captain the side, which included Jordi Cruyff and Deportivo pairing Sergio and Luque. 67,100 fans turned up to see the side win 4-2, with two goals from Barcelona's under 20 international Sergio García and others from Xavi and Luis García. Ordónez scored both goals for Ecuador.
28 Dec Navarra 4 - Burkina Faso 0
A first ever run out for the Navarrans, although Navarran born Athletic Bilbao players Urzaiz, Tiko and Gurpegui all turned down the invitation as they had already been selected to play for Euskadi. Over half the side were from Osasuna, and goals came from De Carlos (2), Txiki (Leganés) and Palacios.
27/28 Dec Other regional games
Four other regions were considering playing during this holiday, but for varying reasons they were not able to arrange games. Cantabria for example had already arranged a match against Macedonia, but called it off as only 150 tickets had been sold two days before kick off. The Balearic Islands were banned by their new government from playing (political in-fighting), and Asturias and the Canary Islands didn't arrange a match for economic reasons.
30 Dec Friendlies in Portugal
Celta and Málaga both played friendly matches in Portugal to warm the players up for the restart after the winter break. Celta lost 1-0 to Sporting Braga and Málaga drew 0-0 at Boavista in the inauguration of the Porto based side's remodelled stadium.
13 Jan 2004 Mallorca 0 - Bayer Leverkusen 1
Bayer training in island during winter break, and organised a friendly match. Luis Aragonés used the game to try out lesser used players and youngsters, plus new signing Finidi etc. Lost thanks to a headed goal from Babic in the first half.
20 Jan 2004 Las Palmas 1 - Hertha Berlin 0
German side training in Canary Islands in winter break, and organized this friendly game. The only goal came from trialist Matheus, the Brazilian defender heading past Fiedler on the stroke of half time.
21 Jan 2004 Tenerife 2 - CSKA Sofia 1
Another friendly in the Islands, with Tenerife coming from behind to win. CSKA scored first with a Gargarov penalty just before the break, but goals from Hormiga and Cristo won it for the second division side.
3 Feb 2004 Cádiz 0 - Shakhtar Donetsk 1
Friendly against Bernd Schuster's side, who are training in South of Spain. Played Barça in kick around at Nou Camp a few days later, Frank Rijkaard's ide winning 3-2 with goals from Saviola (2) and Luis Enrique.
13 Feb 2004 Villarreal v Anyang LG Cheetahs
Organised a friendly match in Burriana against Korean side which was televised live in their home country.
25 May 2004 Catalonia 2 - Brazil 5
Organised another friendly international match between the two sides, which once again took place in the Nou Camp in front of over 80,000 fans. Warm up for Brazil before the Copa America. Two goals each from Ronaldo and Baptista and another from Oliveira gave Brazil the win, with Gerard and Sergio García scoring for the Catalans late on.
25 May 2004 Glasgow Celtic v Sevilla
Spanish side were invited for Henrik Larsson's testimonial match. No news on scorelines etc?
27 May 2004 Lugo 1 - Deportivo La Coruña 2
End of season to help financially hard-up neighbours to raise funds. Stars not called up to play for their countries all played, with Lugo taking the lead through Braulio after half time and Jorge Rodríguez and Iván Pérez scoring for Depor.
27 May 2004 Copa Vasca
First ever Basque cup. Final played in Ipurua (Eibar). Athletic Bilbao beat Real Sociedad 2-1. Ezquerro got the first just before half time, with Larrea equalising after the restart and Del Horno getting the winner.
28 May 2004 Granada 3 - Betis 1
Friendly match to raise funds for the hard up third division side, whose employees are currently occupying the club's offices in protest. The players sat down on the pitch for the first minute as a further protest. Tote got the goal for a depleted Betis.
29 May 2004 Barcelona Dream Team v World Selection
Testimonial match for Stoitchkov between members of the Champions League winning "Dream Team" and a selection of world stars from the 1980s and 90's, including several from Bulgaria. Hristo scored twice as his side won 2-1, with Suker getting the goal for the All Stars.
29 May 2004 Balearic Isles cup
Mallorca beat Satany 4-0 in the semi-final (Bruggink (2), José, Campano) and play Peña Deportiva in the final.
29 May 2004 Alfaro 0 - Osasuna 1
End of season friendly for the Pamplona based side to inaugurate Alfaro's new ground. Bakayoko got the only goal.
30 May 2004 Xavi Aguado testimonial game
Zaragoza's ex captain was given a testimonial match. The cup winners cup side which beat Arsenal in 1995 all made an appearance, as well as Barça's dream team.
8 Jun 2004 Xerez 0 - Betis 1
Betis seem to be attracting trouble these days! For the second match in a row the opposing players staged a sit-down strike at the start of the game in protest about non payment of wages. Ismael got the only goal for Betis when things did get under way.
Jun ?? Atlético tour of Mexico
Could also go on an end of season tour, but unlikely now they have to play the Intertoto cup in mid-July.
Mid July Deportivo tour of China
Have deided in the end to take their vacations now, and the tour has been postponed until the middle of July, once players return to prepare the start of the new season. See pre-season fixtures for more details as and when these are announced.
Friendly Fixtures 2002/2003
Friendly Fixtures 2001/2002
Friendly Fixtures 2000/2001
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