Sporting Gijon-Mallorca

By: Jeremy | October 2nd, 2009

Aduriz2
Can you say Champions League? Those are the chants coming from Palma as Mallorca continues to fly under the radar and beat the teams they are supposed to which has lead them into round six in fourth place.

I know its early and its easy to get excited, but last weekends clinical dismantling of Valladolid showed that this team has real quality and that they will not give away points to inferior opponents, a problem the team has had in the past and that many teams in La Liga seem to be facing this year.

The big reason for this seasons success has to be the play of Aritz Aduriz, who last year felt lost and alone up front with all the goal scoring responsibilities falling on his shoulders. With Borja Valero returning with his EPL level talent, Mallorca is suddenly dangerous up front and is playing attractive football with goals resulting in many phases of play.

The efforts of just a couple of players who click can inspire the whole team to do better and that is what has happened with this team in the early going. With wins against mediocre teams like Valladolid, Xerex, and Tenerife, the team cannot be that excited, but La Liga is a strange animal. Other then your obvious top 6-7 teams, evey other team is pretty much on level and if Mallorca can win most of these games, they will be fighting for a place in Europe. Remember Mallorca has only given points away to Sevilla and Villarreal on the road this year. Impressive to be where we are now and have those games behind us.

Every game that is against someone other then these top teams, Mallorca should be thinking they can get points. This weekends game on the road to Gijon is no different.

Gijon is not an easy team to play and loons like the Osasuna coach make it out they would rather play them then Barca. Lets not get carried away. Like any team with no standout talent, they work hard and try to work together and dont quit for 90 minutes, but the bottom line is talent wins games. You wont see many Gijon players getting transferred to big clubs for big money. Gijon sits on 5 points from a similar type schedule to Mallorca and they got their Barca ass beating out of the way early. However their only win this year was at home to Almeria and while a draw on the road to Valencia is impressive, they are not doing what Mallorca is which is beat the other teams in their big group of teams below the obvious top teams.They are going to be fighting for safety right to the end. Diego Castro has scored a couple of goals for them from midfield, but they really are a no name team.

Mallorca will feel they can get points this weekend and their talent should be enough to get past the cohesive play Gijon will throw at them. With teams like Villarreal and Atletico starting slow, if Mallorca can continue to beat teams like Gijon, they will stay near the top of the standings where anything can happen.

Manzano is a talented coach and seems to be getting his team to play well together. While he is to be complimented, its amazing what a couple of players, players who could be starters on big teams in Spain, Italy, or England, can do to make a difference.
As Valero and Aduriz go, so go this team. It continues this weekend despite it being in a hostile environment on the road.

Prediction: Gijon 1-2 Mallorca

Prediction record to date: 3-2