Cardiff City’s pre-season opener turned into a bruising night as FC Midtjylland won 6-0, with Brian Barry-Murphy’s side already trailing after 20 minutes and never recovering. The Bluebirds began with three academy graduates in the starting eleven, but the first serious test of the new campaign exposed a gap in sharpness and control that the scoreline only sharpened.
Barry-Murphy named Noah Williams, Paul Moreno and Jack Sykes from the start, with Yousef Salech leading the line and Alex Robertson captaining the side. FC Midtjylland, unbeaten in their opening five pre-season games as they build toward a Europa League qualifier against Besiktas later in the month, made their early pressure count when Harry Tyrer gifted the ball to Valdemar Byskov, who opened the scoring after 20 minutes.
Cardiff never found a foothold from there. Franculino doubled the lead before half-time and Viktor Bak made it 3-0 before the interval, leaving Ollie Tanner’s powerful strike on the stroke of half-time, which was struck straight at Elias Olafsson, as one of the few moments that hinted at a reply. The problem for Cardiff was not just the opening side: Barry-Murphy named an entirely different team for the second half, yet the pattern stayed the same, with Callum Robinson moved into midfield and Jac Thomas at left-back as the visitors still conceded three more goals.
Friday Etim scored after coming on as a substitute, Mikel Gogorza added another and Junior Brumado headed in Rasmus Kristensen’s cross to complete the 6-0 defeat. The changes showed Cardiff were using club friendlies to sort through options, but the match also showed how far the squad still has to go before the Championship campaign begins. Cardiff’s next chance to respond comes against Cork City on Tuesday, and Barry-Murphy will know that a cleaner, more stable performance matters more than the final score alone.
