Mallorca-Atletico Madrid
By: Jeremy | March 20th, 2009I guess turnabout is fairplay when it comes to Mallorca. After coming back from 3-0 down in the second half against Betis to earn a draw, we decide to return the favor to Espanyol giving them two late goals to draw 3-3. Overall it would have been better to lose to Betis and beat Espanyo, the results that should have happened, and thus we would have one more point, which is vital in this years desperate bid to avoid relegation.
Those two crazy results aside, we now sit three points clear of relegation desperate to build on that cushion before we hit the final four weeks of the season when we can expect some real asswhippings and is not a time to be needing points to survive.
While we are in run of winnable games and the team has done quite well to get the points needed to even be where they are, they now get a bump in the road in Atletico Madrid. While this game is at home, it is not a week where we expect points. Until we hit the final four weeks, every game after this one is winnable, but it would still be nice to pull a surprise this week at home in Palma.
Atletico Madrid is a great club. They always seem to manage to get some good players that the top teams pass on or overlook and turn it into a european place. As is typical with them, they sit on the fringe of Champions League football, but if they are not careful, could lose their current hold on a UEFA Cup spot. Speaking of the Champions League, the team is feeling a bit down after it went out this year to Porto, who is not really a better team. With players like Forlan, Aguero, Rodriguez, and Coupet, they are fun to watch and one of the more exciting and talented teams in La Liga. Their fans are starting to get frustrated with the lack of european results, but what can they do to take that next step to be in the elite of europe. A tough task. For now they just expect to win most games in Spain and hope for the best.
Mallorca has to be thankful to Mallorca for loaning us Jurado who has been one of our better players this year. Lets hope we can make a deal for next year too. The drawback is that because he is a Madrid player, he cannot play against them this weekend so we will be missing one of our better players. With Aduriz not doing what was expected, and Trejo not playing as much, the team has done well to win some games recently. We have talent, its just so inconsistent. Arango does seem to see the importance of these games and has stepped up his play recently. Any team that goes down 3-0 at home to Betis, comeback or not, is just too inconsistent to expect results against a big team.
Our hope is that Atletico is lethargic still hung over from their CL disappointment. At home, the fans need to again show up and inspire Mallorca to a win. Even a point here would be good. As the weeks pass the standings become tighter, the pressure is on Mallorca to build on their recent results to make the last four weeks meaningless. That is a tough task, but it is possible. I just dont see it this week without Jurado.
Prediction
Mallorca 1-2 Atletico Madrid
Category: Mallorca Team News
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