Twenty goal spectacle in first friendly

Atlético’s first friendly of the 2011-12 pre-season was less a test than an exhibition. In Los Ángeles de San Rafael the club beat local amateur side CD Arcángel 19-1, with twenty goals in total and a scoreline that had passed twelve before half-time.

Gregorio Manzano started with a 4-4-2, Reyes and Juanfran on the wings. Reyes opened the scoring within a few minutes and academy striker Pedro added a second soon after. Arcángel then produced the afternoon’s surprise, striking from outside the area to make it 1-2 and earning themselves a consolation goal that would stand as the match’s only reply. After that the floodgates opened: six goals inside 25 minutes, and 12-1 at the interval.

Manzano changed his entire personnel for the second half and switched to a 4-3-3, giving minutes to new signings Sílvio and Gabi. The reserve-team forwards Pedro and Collado left the strongest impression of the day, scoring seven goals between them, with most of the supply coming from Juanfran, Koke and the left-sided pairing of Reyes and Filipe Luís. With Gabi as the main creative outlet and Diego Costa as the target man, Atlético added another seven after the break. Saúl Ñíguez scored twice.

A sterner test was scheduled for the Thursday, against Segunda División B side Gimnàstica Segoviana.

Line-up, first half: Joel; Valera, Manquillo, Regalón, Filipe; Juanfran, Koke, Raúl García, Reyes; Pedro, Collado.

Line-up, second half: Iago; Sílvio, Pulido, César Ortiz, López; Gabi, Assunção, Fran Mérida; Saúl Ñíguez, Diego Costa, Noguera.

Pre-season friendlies against amateur opposition tell you almost nothing about a team’s coming season, but they do occasionally freeze a moment worth revisiting. This one caught a squad in transition: Agüero already gone, Gabi newly arrived on the second of his two spells at the club, and a teenage Saúl and a 19-year-old Koke both on the scoresheet or setting goals up. Within months Manzano would be replaced, and the era described in the club history would begin. The careers that grew out of this squad are covered in the legends gallery and in the academy pathway; more pre-season and match coverage from the period sits in the archive.