Malaga-Mallorca
By: Jeremy | April 17th, 2009With eight games left in the season, Mallorca are still fighting for their La Liga lives, and after last weekends must win over Almeria at home, we now sit on 35 points, just five points above the relegation zone and still in a position where we must gain points quickly to avoid having to beat the big clubs in the final weeks.
Conventional wisdom says 42 points should allow for safety. Knowing that any points in the final four games would be a bonus, we must find seven points the nenext four weeks, which will not be easy, but certainly possible. This weekend we head to Malaga to play a team that is one of the bigger surprises in La Liga and who can honestly dream of a european position next year. Malaga? Really. Good for them, but not for us. After the game against Malaga, we get Valladolid, also an improved team at home, Recreativo on the road, and then Getafe at home. Getafe is a must win and we must beat Recreativo on the road or Valladolid at home and then draw against the other. This scenario does not make the Malaga match a must win, but if we lose this weekend, the pressure really increases.
The only thing I know about Malaga is that the have former Mallorca man Luque who I am sure wants to score against his old team. They have very balanced scoring and many players have contributed when needed. In addition to Luque with five goals, they have Baha who has scored nine, Apono who has scored seven, and Pereira who has scored seven. This is a very balanced team who plays well together and will be tough to beat at home.
Mallorca continues to play well and after a frustrating loss to Athletic, came back to beat an Almeria team also fighting for safety. Arango has stepped up his play lately but Aduriz and Jurado will need to be exceptional this weekend if we are going to get a win on the road. The talent is there and with Mallorcas improved play, this is not an automatic win for Malaga.
Hopefully Aoute returns in goal and if Santana can continue to play well, we can make something happen in this match. Manzano continues to emphasize a week by week outlook and that has helped him lead the team to a dramatic improvement after a bad first half. The problem is that La Liga is so balanced, there are not automatic relegation teams. Even with Espanyol 9 points behind us, Numancia 7 points, and Recreativo 5 points, we need to build a ten point cushion of safety by the time we get to the last four weeks. Despite the improved play from the team and the winnable games coming up, this will not be easy.
Lets hope we dont go on the road and throw this one away against a team that seems to be strong. This is still Malaga and we can get points. I think we can do it.
Prediction
Malaga 2-2 Mallorca
Category: Mallorca Team News
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