After a week when a radio station in Scotland has been playing chilled canine favourites to help highly strung pooches to relax – some of their favourites are: Daydream Retriever, First Mutt is the Deepest, Good Golly Miss Collie, Pearl’s a Springer, Papas Got a Brand New Poo Bag and Another One Bites the Postman! – Real Mallorca play their last La Liga game of 2024 away in the south of Madrid against Getafe tomorrow (Saturday) at 2pm. Known as the least entertaining side to watch in La Liga (an understatement), Getafe are just above the relegation zone and have drawn five games at home so far this season.
Mallorca welcome back captain Antonio Raillo but will be without the suspended Vedat Muriqi and midfielder Manu Morlanes. In the corresponding fixture last season (the final game of the season), Mallorca won 1-2 with two late goals from Muriqi and Maffeo.
After the Getafe game, Mallorca will have a week off before travelling “up north” to Galacian club Pontevedra in the Copa del Rey on January 3 at 7pm. Then it’s a “bump in the road” for Real Mallorca as they head to Jeddah in Saudi Arabia for the Spanish Super Cup where they’ll play a tired and knackered Real Madrid!
I don’t think even the staunchest Mallorquinistas would have imagined in their wildest dreams that “Los Bermellones” would be there or thereabouts in such a lofty position in one of the best leagues in European football at this stage. What makes it all the more pleasing is that we’re ahead in the league table of several bigger budget clubs, lying in joint fifth place with Villareal on 27 points, although they have played one game less. It’s definitely going to be a tough second half of the season but a few of the teams that normally would be above Mallorca at this time are well off the pace. Lesser teams like Espanyol, Leganes, Alaves, Getafe and Las Palmas have still to grace the Son Moix turf.
Mallorca’s Canadian striker Cyle Larin was until last Saturday a bit of a nonentity in attack. Then, as if by magic, the unexpected happened as he scored both goals in our 2-1 defeat of Girona, making him our leading scorer with four goals. Then something else strange happened, the 15,700 crowd (for whatever reason our smallest attendance this season) began singing “LAAAAARIN, LAAAAARIN” as he became the main protagonist of our comeback. When he came off in the 83rd minute, it was to a standing ovation. Further kudos to him when he was in the “team of the week” in the Marca sports paper and on La Liga TV on Monday.
Larin has all the credentials to be a top striker, he’s strong, fast, powerful and with a great physique. One of his lesser attributes is his running into space. Let’s just hope Cyle’s two goals have given him a shot of esteem and after 18 months of waiting, he lives up to his high (for us) eight million transfer fee from Valladolid.
Last Saturday we witnessed yet another shocking performance from a Spanish referee who was not managing a game but managing his image. For the past few years, La Liga has struggled to keep up with the might of the English Premiership but have not been helped by over-officious referees spoiling games as a spectacle with their pomposity. Against Girona, 36-year-old Belgian-born Hernandez Maeso, in only his second season as a La Liga referee had a “’mare”!
In the 32nd minute, Girona’s Bryan Gil tried to snatch the ball from Vedat Muriqi. He in turn stuck out his right leg, trying to protect the ball. Unfortunately Muriqi’s studs came into contact with Gil’s shin. The referee missed the incident but VAR didn’t, and Muriqi saw red. I could see why VAR made their decision when I watched the replay. Watching it at normal speed, it’s obvious Muriqi didn’t intend to kick or plant his studs on Gil. Then, lo and behold, minutes later Girona’s Van der Beck carried out the same tackle on Mallorca’s Copete and the referee waved play on. Copete then signalled to the referee with the VAR screen sign and he was booked, which incited the crowd.
Identical actions, perfectly comparable double standards, and no VAR review! Captain for the day, Martin Valjent, did his job, without shouting or over-gesticulating, enquiring why VAR wasn’t consulted, and for his temerity he was booked!
La Liga referees (the highest paid in Europe) earn 12,500 euros a month in basic salary, to which must be added 4,200 euros for each game they officiate. The guys in the VAR room get 2,100 euros – shameful when they don’t perform their duties impartially!
AND FINALLY, a horse and a donkey meet in a bar one night. They get chatting and hit it off. The horse invites the donkey back to his place. On entering the horse’s house, the donkey notices that all around the walls are pictures of it winning the Derby, the St Leger, the 2,000 guineas and the Cesarewitch. The donkey invites the horse round to his place the next week but starts panicking about how he’s going to impress this champion racehorse. He decides to go to the zoo and takes a picture of a zebra. The weekend comes and the horse comes round to the donkey’s house. As the horse walks in he sees a picture of a zebra taking up the whole wall. “What’s that?” asks the horse. The donkey proudly explains “Ah, it’s when I used to play for Juventus!!”