Real Mallorca’s last game of their Austrian pre-season stage ended 1-1 in the Max-Aicher Stadium on the outskirts of the beautiful city of Salzburg on Friday afternoon against German Bundesliga side FC Köln. Coach Javier Aguirre started with his strongest XI and Mallorca put on an impressive first half display.
Despite top striker Vedat Muriqi missing a sitter early on in the first half, Mallorca went in at the break a goal up. A Dani Rodriguez free kick in the 44th minute found the head of new signing Omar Mascarell and he nodded in the opener.
Things were to change in the second half as, after a few substitutions, Mallorca showed how threadbare they are, especially in the engine room department. The German side took control and scored from distance through Olsen in the 61st minute. Köln nearly took the lead not long after but Greif pushed the effort away. With only minutes remaining, captain (for the night) Dani Rodriguez saw his snapshot saved by the Köln goalkeeper Schwäbe.
There’s just under a month to go before the big kick off in La Liga, and our defence looks settled. It will be even stronger when captain Antonio Raillo returns. Creativity was severely lacking in mid field and with Muriqi having an “off” night our attack looked disjointed.
Next up it’s a game against Poblense in Sa Pobla for the Potato Cup on Wednesday night. Then we head for the Costa del Wearside to play Sunderland on Saturday at 3pm (4pm Palma time).
Sporting director Pablo Ortells said after the game that the club were still in talks with Valladolid regarding Cyle Larin and he wasn’t the only player expected to arrive before the end of August.
PS With 20 minutes to go on Friday, Costa Rica’s inspired goalkeeper Daniela Solero got cramp in the Women’s World Cup game against Spain. She had more touches than any of her team mates in Costa Rica’s 3-0 defeat to Spain and had 25 shots to save, 19 of them inside the box. It’s not often you see a GOALKEEPER getting cramp!