La Liga at its Best and Worst

Although I support Manchester United because of George Best(my favorite player of all time) who I met briefly while serving as a ball kid back in 1977 for the LA Aztecs of the old NASL, I am not a passionate fan like I am for Cagliari and Mallorca. Therefore I dont feel the joy or sorrows like most genuine Man U fans feel when they win or lose. Therefore as a passionate fan of smaller clubs, maybe it is unfair for me to comment, but I dont get the fans of biggers clubs who show anger at their team because heaven forbid they finish second or third and dont win the their league every year. Id get it if they were finishing mid table or heaven forbid were in the relegation battle, but Barcas players deserve better then what they got this weekend. Even their coach did not deserve what he saw, but a win for Mallorca is all that matters.

This is my attitude toward Barcelona as their behavior lately toward their players and coach to me is reprehensible. There is nothing wrong with voicing frustration and all players deserved to be booed on occasion for a brief moment, but for the fans to boo their players the way they did this weekend and to call for the resignation of their President no doubt contributed to the loss against Mallorca.

Barca came out strong and put two past Moya in the first half and while it looked like the Reds defense was swiss cheese, Barca could have had more goals but Mallorcas defenders and Moya made some stops that prevented the score line from getting worse. Barca was playing well even if the results meant nothing to them. They still wanted to put on a show for their fans and they could have blown Mallorca out very easily. I think the soccer gods werent going to give it to Barca so easily.

Mallorca on the other hand had everything to play for and came out flat. Going to Madrid or Barca can be a harrowing experience when you know that you are up against a more talented side, but that also the home sides fans will be out in full force. While all road games in La Liga are tough, teams feel that they can win when they feel like they match up talent wise. No one matches up with Madrid or Barca so you expect to take your lumps. However Mallorca is one of the few teams that manages to thrive on the pressure of these big clubs so it was surprising to see them so dominated in the first half, final home game for Barca or not.

The second half was a different story. As the fans began to boo their players more, Mallorca continued to push forward. Surprise bench warmer Ibagaza came on for Mallorca and they seemed to respond pushing two past the Barca goalie. By then the fans were becoming even worse. Booing players like Deco and Etoo every time they touched the ball was not deserved so when Guiza pounded in the third Mallorca goal to seal the game with seconds remaining, it was as if Barcas fans got what they deserve. Wasnt this the same team that finished in the CL semis? I dont get the booing as the big clubs must share the spoils with few exceptions.

For all the inspired play by Mallorca and not quitting, the game was lost because of the fans. Players have egos yet are very insecure in many cases. They need the love of their home fans and cheers inspire results. While they can ignore brief boos for bad play, with everything surrounding the club and even after jumping into the lead, they lost it easily as the negativity continued to increase. Analyzing aside, this was a great game for any fan to enjoy with the result in doubt as soon as Mallorca got on the board. I hope this game ends up on Barca TV on FSC someday for me to tape. These kinds of games are what make La Liga the most exciting soccer in the world. You felt something was going to happen as Barca could not get more then two in the first half.

With that 3-2 win Mallorca has achieved so much and can now do the impossible, qualify for the UEFA Cup. We are now guaranteed no worse then 7th which puts us in Intertoto. This gives us a shot at Europe. It sure would be a lot easier to finish 6th if we can make up a point on Racing. We play Zaragoza at home and they play Osasuna at home. Two teams fighting for the final UEFA Cup spot versus two teams fighting for a spot in La Liga next year. Two great games coming up. With Guizas goal, he now leads the Pichichi by two goals and it would be something for him to win it for the glory of Mallorca. With a lot to play for at home, finishing 6th is certainly possible.

Under any circumstances, winning this kind of game against Barca has to give the players confidence and fans have to be excited. While finishing 6th should have been realistic at the beginning of the year, the never quit attitude of the players to bring it back to this final chance is amazing. I hope we get a full house next weekend for the game. I have no doubt the fans will treat the players better then Barca fans treat theirs. Why Guiza would want to go there other then for money to me makes no sense, but we will talk about his future later. Right now we need him for one more big performance.

Category: Mallorca Team News

Tags: Mallorca Team News

Subscribe   The Offside RSS Feeds

Print

Share