Mallorca hit rock bottom as Torres rips apart defence

During his reign as Real Mallorca coach two seasons ago it is unlikely Luis Aragones had an easier time of coaching his side to three points than he did at Son Moix on Sunday, when, as manager to newly promoted Atletico Madrid, he witnessed his team demolish the Islanders 4–0. Aragones was making a welcome return to Son Moix after having led Mallorca to third in the league in the 2000/01 season, but it must have been a severe shock for the veteran coach to see how far the club has slid into the doldrums since his departure. In the 14 months since Aragones walked out the door of Son Moix Mallorca have had four different managers, and after three defeats from three games and having conceded nine goals, it doesn't look long before a fifth coach comes in to replace Gregorio Manzano. It may be early days to talk about managerial changes, but surely the Mallorca board will be worried that the side look no different from the team that toyed with relegation all last season. Mallorca's defensive display, in particular the ageing Miguel Angel Nadal, was probably the poorest ever seen in Son Moix's four year history. Aragones' Atletico, on the other hand, is a well-crafted and balanced side that had no need for the four ex-Mallorca players in the squad. Former AC Milan midfielder Demetrio Albertini controlled the midfield with the minimum of fuss, while wonderboy striker Fernando Torres ran the Mallorca defence ragged. Atletico took the lead with a seventh minute penalty when left back Poli brought down Atletico striker Cosmin Contra on the edge of the area. It was all due to some very sloppy defending and was the indirect result of a wayward Nadal pass. The 18 year-old Torres stepped up and calmly converted the penalty. Another Nadal mistake five minutes later and Fernando Correa could have doubled the lead but for a fine save by Leo Franco, one of many on the night. For Mallorca, Albert Riera was lively on the left wing, while Ariel Ibagaza tried to conjure up his magic inspiring the side to some of their finest possession play of the season thus far, but it was to no avail. Mallorca's best chances came on the half hour mark when Atletico keeper Esteban made a fine save from an Alejandro Campano free–kick and five minutes later when the same player crossed into the box only for Walter Pandiani to shoot over an open goal from just three feet out in what will be included in every blooper video this year as the miss of the season. With half-time approaching and Mallorca failing to take their chances Atletico went in search of a second goal, which duly came in the 41st minute. Fernando Torres broke free when he caught the hapless Nadal dallying with the ball and then forced Leo Franco to palm his shot round the post. Correa latched onto the resultant corner and with one jinx wrong-footed four Mallorca defenders to slide the ball into the back of the net and give Atletico a comfortable cushion going into half-time. Torres put the match beyond reach ten minutes into the second-half when he glided past the static Nadal and Fernando Niño like a gazelle jumping between two grazing wildebeest and then beating Leo Franco to make it 3–0. Manzano was jeered for waiting until that moment to make some change to the line-up when he replaced Niño with Javier Olaizola, while his strange decision to take off Ibagaza a little later also garnered a negative response. Substitute Jorge Lorena rounded off a great day for Atletico, and an easy one for Aragones, when he made it 4-0 in the 66th minute after having entered play just three minutes beforehand. Leo Franco made a number of incredible saves in the last half hour that stopped the score line from getting ridiculous and can hold his head high despite the four goals scored past him. The rest of the team need to get down to some hard work before they face Athletic Bilbao next week and try to halt what has been the worst start to a Primera Liga season in the club's history.