Before the match got underway, the traditional minute’s silence was held in memory of those Malaguistas who passed away last season. The honorary kick-off was made by Olympic silver medallist Damián Quintero from Torremolinos, who received a standing ovation from the fans who were back in the stands at La Rosaleda (6.519 spectators).

There were many new faces on the pitch tonight. Coach José Alberto López selected two homegrown players in his first starting line-up – Kevin and Roberto - making their first team debut. Also in action with the Blue and Whites officially for the first time were Peybernes, Javi Jiménez, Paulino and Brandon.

From the outset, Málaga bore the weight of the match, dominating a Mirandés focused on their defence. The opportunities kept on coming, particularly thanks to homegrown player, Kevin. During the first half hour, the young winger generated, without exaggeration, half a dozen chances with his own shots or with passes to his teammates.

Following the water break due to the intense heat in minute 30, CD Mirandés sought greater possession of the ball, but barely approached Dani Barrio’s goal. In 40’ La Rosaleda cheered on a goal converted by Juande, but it was declared offside. Paulino made the assist, who came close to a goal in 43’ with a cross shot from the right. At half-time, the scoreboard remained at 0-0.

The second half kicked-off in a similar vein. A Málaga raring to go, spurred on by the fans, against a rival who was almost always at the mercy of the home side. Juande and Roberto created promising opportunities within the first 15 minutes, but came up against a solid Lizoain in goal.

The visitors had a superb chance in minute 64, with a shot from distance by Álex López that Dani Barrio cleared to a corner. Three minutes later, José Alberto made a double substitution: homegrown players Kevin and Roberto stepped off, whilst Jairo and Cufré – also making his debut – joined play, the latter in front of Javi Jiménez on the left. In 69’, the Argentine put Lizoain to the test with a good attempt from in front of the area.

As time went on, Mirandés stepped up their attack whilst MCF started to show fatigue, which is typical at this time of year. Rey in 78’ sent the ball to the right of Barrio; Genaro, in 83’ substituted Paulino to make his Blue and White debut and Loren, in 88’ came on in place of Brandon, who was highly applauded by fans.

Then, in stoppage time, La Rosaleda held its breath. Hassan scored for Mirandés in 93’, but the ref declared the goal offside after a VAR check for a previous foul on Juande. At full-time the result was 0-0 with both teams sharing the points in Málaga CF’s debut match in LaLiga SmartBank this 21/22 season.