Now thats what I have been waiting for

By: Jeremy | March 24th, 2009

In what has been an up and mostly down year, Mallorca turned in what was probably its finest performance of the year in beating Champions League hopeful Atletico Madrid 2-0 in Palma. In a game where we did not expect points, despite being unbeaten for some time, the team got a vital three points and moved from the relegation zone to twelfth place after their 90 minutes of great play.

You knew the team was serious in its belief they could win when they anted up the 120,000 euros so Jurado, probably our best player this year, could play against the team that owns him. What makes Jurado a favorite is that he wanted to play against the club that owned him and wants Mallorca to do well even if it could mean he returns to Atletico next year and they are not in the Champions League, where every player wants to play. For a club with financial troubles, Mallorca knows the value of top flight status and quickly paid the fee to allow him to play.

The motivation we had overcame Atleticos edge in talent. Adurizs first goal was a nice chip to finish, but I would bet he was likely offside when the ball was passed to him. They let it go. The second goal by Castro was really the result of Francos quick decision to come out of his area. Either way Atletico was just beaten and while they are disappointed, we are showing that our talent is worthy of a better place then a relegation zone spot.

For all the excitement, we are still just three points from relegation and with 42 points likely needed to be safe, we need 10 points from 10 games to secure our future next year in La Liga. Before we finish with the big four, we play six winnable games as follows:

Athletic (A)
Almeria (H)
Malaga(A)
Valladolid(H)
Recreativo(A)
Getafe(H)

These are all teams that we can beat and while Malaga and Valladolid have emerged from the relegation pack, they are still not worthy of any european consideration. The others are all lower in the standings then us. If we win the home games and steal a point on the road, we should be safe. There is no reason we cannot do this. We do not want to head into the final four games needing points.

The Atletico game continues a run of unbeaten play in La Liga that has vaulted us from almost certain relegation to a place where we can look down on some teams for the first time in awhile. Things can change quickly however and now we get two weeks to heal some injuries and live off the positivity that was this game.

For all the changes, there is simply too much talent on this team for us to be relegated. While that still can happen, any fan has to feel like that with the recent performances, the enthusiasm of the players continuing to show, and the leadership of an experienced coach in Manzano, that the positive is likely to outweigh the negative and safety can soon be achieved.

Lets enjoy this huge win and get ready to travel to Bilbao in two weeks where the winning should continue.