Mallorca-Valencia- Mid Table Mediocrity

By: Jeremy | March 29th, 2008

Like Deportivo, Valencia is struggling a bit this year. Mallorca has also been disappointing so we find ourselves looking at a match between the 11th and 12th placed sides in LaLiga. Typically these games involve a Champions League caliber Valencia versus a Mallorca team battling to avoid relegation. With the clubs where they are this year, it is clear they each are looking toward next year although there is still too much time left to be making it so obvious.

While 8th through 18th place is very close and one team is really going to feel bad when they do end up in 18th, both of these clubs are fairly safe. While Valencia has a small chance at Europe, it is not likely while Mallorca still need a few more of their patented ties to make sure they wont be relegated.

Valencia is clearly talking about whether their manager is the right guy and what transfers will they bring in next year while Mallorca is happy with Manzano, but most of their stars are looking at transfering out next year. Mallorca never seems to have a plan in the offseason as they are just glad to have survived to play another year in the top league. This just shows the expectations of the two clubs at this point. Valencia wants to bounce back while Mallorca will have to really scramble to maintain the talent level on a team that has clearly disappointed. They could really lose players they should be making an effort to keep. Both teams feel like they should be further up the standings, but they seem to have accepted where they are and will just play out the string and hope to avoid trouble. The fans probably see it the same way.

Being a fan of a team that sits at mid table most of the year can be quite frustrating. While there is nothing better then challenging for a European place, facing a relegation battle which is heartwrenching each week can also be exciting. There really isnt the typical excitement in Mallorca this time of year and seeing all these great players on the team only muster a mid table place is tough. I really expected Europe for Mallorca this year, and although they arent in their typical relegation battle, it is too early for me to look at relegation because there are so many teams fighting for just one spot.

This is another week where you just want to see how the standings look after the match and hopefully even with a loss, Mallorca wouldnt be any closer to the drop zone. A win while great would not really move the club up the standings so the excitement would not be there. These thoughts make it hard to discuss who is playing, who is suspended, and who is in good form and why one team will beat the other. Its too late to care yet too early to worry when it comes to these kinds of teams and games so lets just get this game over and see where we are.

So what does all this mean? Probably a dull 1-1 game in the Mestalla.