Real Mallorca closed their pre-season unbeaten when they drew 1-1 against Italian second division side Spezia (near Genoa).
In a game played in a sweltering 30C heat, the Son Bibiloni training ground had a 1,200 capacity crowd with many more peering through the fence in the car park under the trees. There’s hardly any shade in the ground and president/owner Andy Kohlberg and his wife looked very uncomfortable sitting in the tiny directors’ box with no roof.
Most of the crowd had come to see new signing Cyle Larin and he had one delightful back-heeler into the path of Muriqi near the end. Whether he starts or not next Saturday at Las Palmas remains to be seen.
Without Kang In Lee in our midst we looked bereft going forward but it’s early doors and we can expect at least two more signings in the next few days. Coach Javier Aguirre picked what looked like the starting XI for next Saturday with Amath once again looking electric, however his finishing left a lot to be desired. Goalkeeper Rajkovic and Valjent sat this game out due to physical discomfort (muscle strains). Our midfield were Mascarell, Morlanes and Dani Rodriguez, and if there are no signings before next weekend they look likely to open the league on Saturday.
After a stop-start first half the visitors took the lead in the 67th minute when a terrible clearance from Baba went straight to Spezia’s Rachid Kouda who hit a “worldy” past an unsighted Dominik Greif. Dani Rodriguez took some punishment from some over-zealous tackling but he looked our best player on the night. The crowd were well pleased and cheered when Larin came on, and he showed a few deft touches. I can’t wait to see him and Muriqi in full flow.
Spezia had introduced some of their big guns after the break and they looked more dangerous. However, in the 80th minute Mallorca equalised. A break down the left by Javi Llabres saw the Binissalem youngster pass to Sanchez, who side-footed in from just inside the penalty area.
It appears that Sanchez is surplus to requirements and he could well be leaving the club this week. Llabres on the other hand has had a good pre-season and it now remains to be seen if he’ll stay next season or be loaned out again.
All in all at least we got through pre-season without any serious mishaps. Mallorca are still interested in Espanyol’s Sergi Darder from Arta. I expect to have more news on that saga by the end of the week. At the moment we lack a bit of pace in build-ups (with the exception of Amath) and we definitely miss the “twinkle toes” of Kang In Lee. It’s now all eyes on Las Palmas, Saturday at 19:30.