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PORTUGAL — Real Salt Lake takes on Lionel Messi and Inter Miami in 18 days when head coach Pablo Mastroeni expects the starting lineup to look significantly different from the group he rolled out in Saturday's 2-1 loss to Danish side Brondby to open preseason play.
"All in all, it was a really good exercise for us, and obviously a lot of things to take away from the game and continue to work on," Mastroeni said. "Whilst, you know, we wait for some of the other guys to get back in with the group, but everyone did a really good job."
Exactly how many guys is Mastroeni waiting on? Five, by his estimations.
The most glaring and obvious absence is star striker Chicho Arango, who just returned to Utah Saturday after a lengthy wait in Colombia for his green card. Two other Colombians have yet to join the squad as Andres Gomez and Nelson Palacio are away playing with the Olympic national team.
Midfielder Pablo Ruiz is working his way back from MCL surgery he underwent last season, and newly-signed Greek left-back Alexandros Katranis joined the team Friday.
Anderson Julio filled in for Arango as the lone striker in Saturday's match, scoring RSL's only goal in the 16th minute after he stole the ball in Brondby's half and launched one over the out-of-position keeper.
Anderson Julio steals the ball in the Brondby half and launches one over the out of position keeper to put #RSL up 1-0 in the 17th minute. (Video from the super grainy YouTube live I found) pic.twitter.com/JVa2FDLDEi
— Caleb Turner (@calebturner23) February 3, 2024
Oddly enough, it was RSL's most consistent group on the back line — a group Mastroeni shouted out as his "standout players" so far in the preseason — that let the game slip away after the early lead. Justen Glad gave the ball away at the edge of the RSL box in the 35th minute and then Gavin Beavers had a bad free kick that set up Brondby to take a 2-1 lead just before halftime.
"It's a tough first opponent in the preseason, given the form that they're in in their league, but I thought the guys handled themselves well," Mastroeni said of facing a Danish top-division team in the middle of its season. "We made some adjustments at halftime and the guys that came in did a really good job of continuing to keep the momentum kind of with us."
Seventeen-year-old newcomer Fidel Barajas got his first RSL start in the preseason opener and both he and Mastroeni highlighted his quick integration into the team and "really good moments" against Brondby.
"As a team, and especially individually, I feel like we brought out what we were working on these past two or three weeks in preseason," Barajas said. "Personally, I think I gave a good game for creating chances, high goalscoring opportunities. I feel like that's what my job was as a player. Overall I'm happy."
RSL plays two more matches in Portugal as part of the Atlantic Cup on Tuesday against Norwegian club Fredrikstad at 12 p.m. MST and Friday against Faroe Islands side Klaksvikar at 6 a.m. MST. MLS Season Pass is not streaming RSL's preseason matches but some can be found via the opposing teams' digital channels.
