The Mallorquinista: RCD Mallorca Review
Report from Charles Nutter - First game of the season
Real Mallorca´s first game of the 24/25 La Liga season ended in a very creditable 1- 1 draw against European Champions and current La Liga Champions Real Madrid.
To give that some context Mallorca´s current squad value according to TransferMarket is 74 million euros and Los Blanco´s squad is valued at a massive 1.35 BILLION euros.
French superstar Kylian Mbappe made his first start for the team from the capital alongside Jude Bellingham, Vinicius Junior and Rodrygo. The latter opened the scoring on 12 minutes with a sublime finish and things looked a little bleak for the Islanders. However the team clawed their way back into the game and keeper Dominic Greif was in fine form and the central defenders Valjent and captain Raillo kept Mbappe and co. at arms length. Tough tackling fullback Maffeo continued his long standing feud with Vinicius. The Brazilian´s constant theatrics angered the 23,000 home crowd. Maffeo was booked on the stroke of half time but he stuck to his task. Mallorca revelled in the freedom to the press and attack policy that new head coach Jagoba Arrasate has installed. They gradually turned the tide and from the start of the second half took control of the game. After 52 minutes Muriqi ( The Pirate ) bulleted home a header from a pinpoint corner by Dani Rodriguez. Substitute Antonio Sanchez had a chance to become a hero when he had a clear shot on goal late on but blazed it over the bar.
Madrid became more and more frustrated and this was evidenced by Mendy being sent off with literally 5 seconds of extra time remaining for an awful lunge at Muriqi on the halfway line. His head coach Carlo Ancelottii was clearly unimpressed. Incidentally Ancelotti , now 65 years old was certainly the coolest man in the ground. Resplendent in his trademark 3 piece suit and tie he didn’t appear to break sweat on a hot and sticky August night in Palma. A draw was thoroughly deserved and the star of the night was Colombian fullback Johan Mojica. His all action attack and defence style endeared him to the fans. He was signed for a bargain fee from Villareal at the express request of Arrasate for whom Mojica played last season on loan at Osasuna. Ironically Mallorca´s next game is away at Osasuna on Saturday the 24th of August followed by a home game against Sevilla on Tuesday the 27th of August with a 19.00 kick off.
On the transfer front there have been two significant departures. Serbian international goalkeeper Pedrag Rajkovic has joined the Saudi Arabian exodus and signed for Al-Ittihad for a reported 10 million euros giving Mallorca a handsome profit and of course he will be paid a kings ransom. Similarly Uruguayan international fullback Gio Gonzalez curiously signed for Russian outfit Kradsonar for 3 million euros. Apparently they tripled his salary but it seems a strange move to a country that is ostracised in many ways and his chances of further caps for Uruguay appear remote. Sadly money talks.
Apart from Mojica the only senior incoming signing was Japanese international Takuma Osana whose pace has been a revelation. Arrasate has expressed a wish for another wide player. Fans are always wanting to bring extra players into the squad but Arrasate philosophically explained that he would rather have one great new player than two average players. He is ticking all the right boxes and it looks like exciting times ahead. Visca Mallorca !
Read other Real Mallorca reports:
The Mallorquinista: RCD Mallorca Review
