Cardiff City suffered a heavy defeat, losing 6-0 to Danish club FC Midtjylland as they kicked off their preparations for the upcoming Championship season.
Manager Brian Barry-Murphy included three academy graduates in his starting lineup: Noah Williams, Paul Moreno, and Jack Sykes. Yousef Salech led the attack, while Alex Robertson captained the side.
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Midtjylland, who are gearing up for a Europa League qualifier against Turkey’s Besiktas later this month and have remained undefeated in their first five pre-season matches, started strong. Both teams had finished second in their respective leagues last season.
The Danish Cup holders struck first after 20 minutes when Harry Tyrer made a mistake, allowing Valdemar Byskov to score. Franculino, who netted 17 goals last season, doubled the advantage as Cardiff was caught on the counterattack.
Viktor Bak added a third goal before halftime. Cardiff did threaten a comeback just before the break, but Ollie Tanner saw his powerful shot saved by goalkeeper Elias Olafsson.
Despite fielding an entirely new squad in the second half, which included Callum Robinson in midfield and academy product Jac Thomas at left-back, Cardiff quickly conceded more goals.
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Substitutes Friday Etim and Mikel Gogorza both found the net with easy tap-ins. Junior Brumado capped the scoring with a header from a cross by former Leeds full-back Rasmus Kristensen.
Cardiff is set to face Cork City in their next pre-season friendly on Tuesday.