Pre-season matches

The long pre-season rolls on in Spain, with three weeks still to go before the new campaign kicks off. No less than six Spanish clubs tested their strength against their English counterparts over the last few days without too much success, although that was probably to be expected as the league season starts very soon in the UK and teams were better prepared. The first of the Spanish summer tournaments also took place last week, with Sevilla winning the Costa del Sol trophy against Málaga and Betis losing the final of the Kappa cup against Feyenoord on penalties. In the next few days Deportivo La Coruña will be hosting their prestigious Teresa Herrero trophy, and Cádiz will be holding their annual Ramón de Carranza tournament, which has been switched to the nearby Bahía Sur stadium due to the poor state of the second division side's newly laid pitch. (09.08.04)