On Easter Saturday, Real Mallorca completely upset the odds by defeating Real Madrid at the Son Moix Stadium in front of a packed crowd of just over 23,000, the vast majority of whom went home deliriously happy.
Head coach Martin Demichelis made a number of changes, one of which was enforced, as captain and central defender Antonio Raillo was injured in training. Omar Mascarell was moved from his midfield anchor role to partner Martin Valjent. Sergio Darder made his first start under the new regime and Manu Morlanes was also handed a start in a very offensive line-up.
The visitors from the capital of Spain looked somewhat jaded from the start, with only Kylian Mbappe looking like any kind of threat. He had a running contest with home keeper Leo Roman, using his pace on three occasions to create shooting opportunities, but Roman was equal to him.
For the Islanders, Zito Luvumbo was paired up front with Muriqi and his pace and power troubled the visitors constantly. On 35 minutes, Maffeo floated a cross in that Muriqi won in the air against Rudiger, but Morlanes could only put a free header over the bar. Shortly afterwards came the move of the match when Darder played in Maffeo again, whose cross was met by Morlanes, who controlled the pass and slotted home the opening goal with aplomb.
After the break, Madrid brought on Bellingham, Militao and Vinicius, but they made little impact. Mallorca controlled the game and looked set to see out the win until the 88th minute, when Militao powered home a header from a corner. A draw would have been unfair on the home side, and into injury time substitute Joseph played in Muriqi, who beat his man and smashed an unstoppable shot into the net for the winner.
The ground erupted and justice was done. Muriqi was visibly emotional after suffering the pain of losing a World Cup playoff final with his beloved Kosovo to Turkey. That was his 19th goal of the season and he is vital to Mallorca’s survival hopes. With Levante and Elche both losing, the Islanders moved 2 points clear of the relegation zone.
Post-match, a beaming Demichelis declared: “To beat them you have to give a lot of things and today they have happened. This is not salvation, although there is a phrase that I like a lot: ‘with my feet on the ground, but with my eyes to the sky’.”
In the week prior to the game, he apologised to a radio journalist who he had criticised previously and, frankly, after beating Madrid he can be forgiven anything.
Pablo Torre, who was used very sparingly by former coach Arrasate and is now blossoming, was fulsome in his praise of his new boss: “He is giving me confidence, prominence, and I’m very happy to be able to help the team and to feel important.”
Muriqi Leads Mallorca’s Charge Against Rayo
Next up was another home game against Rayo Vallecano (from the suburbs of Madrid) on Sunday the 12th of April. Team news was not good prior to the match, as it was revealed that captain Raillo had undergone surgery on an ankle ligament injury and there was no immediate prospect of him returning for the remaining games of the season. His regular central defensive partner Martin Valjent was suspended due to a cumulation of yellow cards. Summer recruit Kumbulla had only just returned to training after a lengthy injury lay-off.
Another blow came with the news that Leeds loanee Mateo Joseph suffered an injury to knee ligaments which has ruled him out for the rest of the season.
Young central defender David Lopez came in for Valjent as the only change from the Madrid game, with Mascarell continuing as a makeshift defender.
The visitors were within touching distance in the league and their clear intention was to nullify the threat of Muriqi, who was constantly fouled, resulting in both central defenders Mendy and Lejeune receiving yellow cards in the first half hour. The match started in rainy and overcast conditions – more akin to a wet November day in the UK than a spring day on the sunshine island. The fans soon warmed up as Mallorca mounted a wave of attacks. Pablo Torre brought a save out of the keeper Dani Cardenas from a wickedly struck free kick. The fans exploded. The ground erupted on 36 minutes when a corner was flicked on by Samu Costa and Muriqi, who else, volleyed in at the far post. That was his 20th goal of the season but, more importantly, put him level with Samuel Eto’o as the club’s all-time leading goalscorer with 54. Only four minutes later, Torre played in Luvumbo, who crossed for Muriqi to volley his second and put him on top as leading goalscorer in La Liga ever for the Islanders.
Prior to the match, Demichelis stated one of his main priorities was to keep a clean sheet and, into the second half, he was clearly urging the players to calm things down. The visitors had a couple of opportunities, but Leo Roman in goal was equal to them. Pablo Torre hit the post from a narrow angle and was instrumental in the offensive plans.
Zito Luvumbo, who has become key to the Demichelis effect, had another outstanding game and came off after a collision with a defender. Young Jan Virgili came on to replace him – he hasn’t had much opportunity lately but scored a magnificent goal within 4 minutes of coming on. A free kick by Torre was met by the youngster, who volleyed home with his favoured left foot – his first goal in professional football. Three goals – all volleyed – must be some kind of record, and it’s a tribute to the fast pace that the team are moving the ball with these days.
Demichelis took the opportunity to give 20 minutes to Kumbulla and Japanese winger Asano, both of whom have been out for lengthy spells with injury.
After the game he praised his players but was also cautious: “Not much to celebrate,” as there are points at stake, games to play and salvation is not certain. One cloud on the horizon came two days after the game with the news that Luvumbo had actually suffered a slight hamstring injury and will be out for three to four weeks. Virgili will be the favourite to replace him.
The fans went home extremely happy for the second week in a row. The result moved Mallorca up to 15th in La Liga, only 1 point behind Valencia, who are the next visitors to the Son Moix on Tuesday the 21st of April at 20:00. Can they make it three wins out of three?
Charles Nutter
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