Southampton lost their 100% pre-season record but are still yet to lose, as they were held to a 1-1 draw against Espanyol.
They face another Spanish side on Sunday, as Athletic Bilbao travel to St. Mary's.
Bigger task
Southampton have had a fairly easy run in during the summer, winning all four of their friendlies in Holland.
This task was a stiffer one and Espanyol matched the Saints for a large period of the game.
As mentioned, it is the first time the South Coast outfit have failed to win since the end of the season.
First half action
The visitors started the brightest and Fraser Forster was tested twice by both Jose Reyes and Marc Roque Junior.
Southampton soon got into the game as James Ward-Prowse and Nathan Redmond both had clear cut chances to open the scoring. Ward-Prowse's shot was deflected off his own teammate and easily cleared.
The game continued to be an end-to-end affair and Virgil Van Dijk was the next to go close with a header.
The deadlock was finally broken when Oriel Romeu got on the end of a Ward-Prowse corner, to score against his old team.
Redmond looked inspired towards the end of the second half and nearly doubled the home side's lead but he fired just wide of the post.
Second half action
Puel made four changes at half time, handing a debut to new signing Alex McCarthy.
The new goalkeeper didn't have much to do in the first 15 minutes of the second half. Substitute Charlie Austin was looking dangerous and Redmond was continuing to shine; both went close to making it 2-0.
Despite the pressure, Espanyol would soon equalise. Van Dijk fouled Leo Baptista in the penalty area and it was former Manchester City striker Felipe Caicedo who converted from 12 yards out.
Youngsters Lloyd Isgrove and Harrison Reed came off the bench late on in the game but could not make an instant impact.
The two teams have now drawn their last two friendlies against each other.
Romeu happy
After scoring his first goal of pre-season, Romeu said there was "many positive things" about the performance. He did admit things could improve but insisted the team is "getting better".
The Spaniard said he is hopeful Southampton can earn a "great win" on Sunday, so they can go into the new season on a high.
Southampton kick off their Premier League campaign against Watford next week.