Malaga vs Granada CF preview - Malaga aim to kickstart campaign

Posted Monday, September 12, 2011 by PA

Malaga will look to get their season up and running when they face Andalusian neighbours Granada on Monday night.

Much is expected of Manuel Pellegrini's side this season after spending over 50million euros in the summer, but they began their league campaign with a 2-1 defeat to Sevilla two weeks ago.

Pellegrini is keen to put that result behind them in their first home game of the season.

"There will be a party atmosphere, the stadium will certainly be full and the fans are anxious to see the team and the players that have arrived," he said.

"Hopefully we can get our first win and give the good performance that we are looking for."

The Chilean coach also expects Granada to give a much better performance than in their first match, a 1-0 defeat at home to Real Betis.

"They have signed four of five new players since then and that game doesn't mean anything now," he added.

"They are a team that goes out to play, they have fast wingers, goalscorers in Ikechukwu Uche and Alex Geijo.

"We have to be very intense defensively and in attack - and aggressive with the ball to do damage."

Pellegrini, however, will have to cope again without the injured Julio Baptista, Wellington and Kris Stadsgaard.

Granada signed Moises Hurtado, Franco Jara, Pape Diakhate and Uche all on the final day of the transfer window. But due to Uche and Diakhate's international commitments they only began training with their new team-mates late in the week and are not expected to start on Monday night.

Despite the upheaval at his own club, Granada captain Manolo Lucena is hoping his side can take advantage of the radical changes at Malaga during the summer.

"We hope to catch Malaga in a transition period," he said.

"We can play better than we did (against Betis) and if we do that then we can get a good result."