Former Sporting Gijon winger Jony is now with Malaga. (Photo : Getty Images)
Last season's eighth-placed squad Malaga CF is set to open its 2016-2017 La Liga campaign with a match against newly-promoted side CA Osasuna, who was promoted to the Spanish top flight after topping the Segunda Division playoffs last term. The match is scheduled to be held at the La Rosaleda Stadium on Friday, August 19.
Malaga missed qualification to this season's UEFA Europa League competitions by only four points as they fell short of the seventh spot snagged by Sevilla in the final 2015-2016 league table after being winless in six of their last eight outings in the previous season.
Los Boquerones will feature returning manager Juande Ramos this term, who coached the team during the 2003-2004 season. The 61-year-old Spanish mentor had consecutive stints with Sevilla, Tottenham Hotspur, Real Madrid, CSKA Moscow, and Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk before he decided to come back to the La Rosaleda residents this year.
The team also added a few key players with Spanish wingers Jony and Keko from Sporting Gijon and Eibar respectively, and Burkinabé center back Bakary Koné from Ligue 1 outfit Olympique Lyonnais.
Some of the familiar names that exited this summer are defender Raul Albentosa, who moved to Deportivo La Coruna, and striker Duje Cop, who transferred to Sporting Gijon.
Malaga is coming off a 2-1 victory over Segunda Division squad Cadiz CF in their final preseason friendly last Saturday at the Estadio Ramón de Carranza, via Soccerway.
Meanwhile, Osasuna finished sixth place in the Spanish second division last season and won a playoffs against Segunda Division squads Gimnastic, Girona, and Cordoba to qualify for promotion in the English top flight this term.
The team will still be coached by Spanish mentor Enrique Monreal, who joined the squad last summer and was able to lead them to the Spanish top flight in just one season.
The Reds will be bannered by attacking midfielder Roberto Torres, who led the team in goalscoring last season with 12, and striker Nino, who netted seven goals in 2015-2016.
Osasuna dropped a 1-5 game to demoted La Liga squad Rayo Vallecano at the Estadio Municipal de El Plantío also last Saturday for their last preseason match before the opening of the new season, ESPN indicated.
The predicted result is a 1-0 win for Malaga.
Malaga starting lineup (4-4-2 formation): Kameni; Torres, Weligton, Koné, Ricca; Juanpi, Camacho, Recio, Castro; Charles, Jony
Osasuna starting lineup (4-4-2 formation): Fernandez; Flaño, Bonnin, Oier, Flaño; Garcia, Torres, Merida, Otegui; Nino, Vera
