After a week when a classic car enthusiast in New York bought Neil Diamond’s old Volvo on eBay – it was a Swede Car-online ! – Real Mallorca have nine days of peace of mind before their next La Liga game away at Villareal on Sunday, November 23 at 9 pm. The intense 1-0 win against Getafe has eased the tension at Son Moix and allows Real Mallorca to go into the international break two points clear of the relegation zone.
Last Sunday’s game wasn’t for the football purist and Mallorca once again, when they took an early lead, couldn’t capitalise by scoring a second which would have seen us home and hosed. Against Getafe we treated every inch of the pitch like territory to be defended. We matched Getafe’s work rate with fight and desire and scored one of the best goals seen at Son Moix for ages. One of the most pleasing aspects of the win was the form of Samu Costa who had a phenomenal game. His physicality and intensity inspired the rest of the team and he was crucial in the build up to the winning goal.
To beat “anti football” Getafe you have to run more and commit more fouls. Our tenacity reaped rewards although the visitors clearly dominated possession (61% to 39%) and shots (14 to 6) and corners (14 to 1) but our eight men behind the ball proved decisive. It proved that Real Mallorca can play the “other kind of football” not high on the entertainment side!
There’s still a long way to go to get back where we belong (mid table obscurity) but little by little the team’s showing signs of improvement. When the season restarts in nine days we face formidable opponents in Champions League outfit Villareal. They currently lie in third place and are unbeaten at home. Last January at their Estadio La Ceramica, they hammered us 4-0 scoring them all in the first 28 minutes.
Mallorca’s fixtures up until the Christmas recess are Villareal (A) November 23 at 9pm; Osasuna (H) November 29 at 2pm; Oviedo (A) Friday, December 5 at 9pm; Elche (H) December 14 and Valencia (A) December 21 – kick off times not yet decided. Discounting the Villareal game, Mallorca enter, on paper, a favourable game stretch. The points accumulated during this period against opponents of equal or lower standing should be enough to get to Navidad with a total close to 20 points which would be roughly equivalent to 50% of the points needed to avoid relegation.
Five Mallorca players are away on international duty: Muriqi (Kosovo), Mascarell (Equatorial Guinea), Bergström (Finland), Mojica (Colombia) and Virgili (Spain Under 21s). Mallorca “boss” Jagoba Arrasate will coach a Basque region side in a friendly against Palestine tomorrow, Saturday November 15, in San Mames, Bilbao. Vedat Muriqi made history with his goal last Sunday becoming the third player from Mallorca to reach the 40 goal milestone. He’s now five behind Juan Arrango (with 45), and the inimitable Samuel Eto’o with 54. In 12 matches this season he’s scored six, one goal less than in the entire previous season.
COPA DEL REY – Mallorca will visit Numancia from the Castile and Leon region in the second knockout round of the Copa del Rey on (most likely) December 2. This tie will be very special for our coach Jagoba Arrasate, as it’s a team he managed for three seasons between 2015-2018. Numancia play in the “Second Federation” fifth tier of Spanish football. On paper Mallorca shouldn’t have any problems but we were humiliated by a team (Pontevedra) 3-0 from the same division last season.
There was nearly a local Mallorca derby when the draw was made on Tuesday. Via Cintura side Atletico Baleares were drawn in the smaller team section. There were four balls left to pick including Real Mallorca. Atletico could have had Espanyol, Osasuna or Mallorca. As fate dictated, Atletico drew Espanyol, the surprise team of La Liga but the tie will see the ground bursting at the seams. Local fans wanted a derby match up – something that hasn’t happened here for over seven years.
AND FINALLY, this guy’s in Tesco buying a bag of dog food. While in the checkout queue a woman behind him asks him “Do you have a dog then ?” On impulse after being asked such a stupid question, he decides to wind her up. He tells her he didn’t have a dog but was starting the Winalot dog food diet again. He told her he probably shouldn’t because the last time he was on the diet he landed in hospital. He was in intensive care with tubes coming out of every orifice and IV drips in both arms. He went on “It was the perfect diet. All I did was load my pockets with food nuggets and every time I felt peckish, I’d eat one or two. It worked so well, I lost a lot of weight.” Horrified, the woman asks if he ended up in intensive care because the dog food poisoned him. The man told her “No. I stepped off the pavement to sniff a poodle’s rear and was hit by a bus !”