Pablo Torre gave RCD Mallorca the opening goal and the edge on the first matchday of the Segunda División season, then watched the match from the bench after being replaced by Álex Sala in the 68th minute. Mallorca went on to beat Real Valladolid CF 2-0 at Son Moix before 15,650 spectators.
The goal came in the 61st minute, when Torre turned a direct free kick into the sort of finish that changes a season opener from cautious to controlled. Raíllo added the second in the 71st minute with a header from a corner, and Mallorca never let the result slip after that. For Fran Escribá, making his debut as Real Valladolid coach, the night began with a squad short of options because a good part of the first team was still not registered, including Van Duiven, Barberá and Arnu.
That left Valladolid to play the game anyway, which made the loss less about a single mistake than about the shape of the team itself. Mallorca, by contrast, could lean on a scorer who did his job and left the field early, then on a second goal that closed the door. Torre’s free kick mattered twice: it put Mallorca ahead, and it showed how quickly the first game of the season can turn into a test of readiness for everyone else.
What remains open is not the score, but whether Real Valladolid can get the missing pieces registered quickly enough to make the season’s first result look less like a warning.
