After a week when an Indian builder fell through the roof at a Lionel Richie concert – a spokesperson for the venue said “The last thing I saw was Dan Singh on the ceiling!” – Real Mallorca’s La Liga debut last Saturday against champions Barcelona crashed and burned after just 23 minutes, in a 0-3 defeat. The start was a monologue for the visitors who took just seven minutes to get on the score-sheet. After that there was little Mallorca could do, not helped by our misfiring striker Muriqi missing a couple of scoring chances, which 18 months ago he would have converted with consummate ease. However, the game was determined from the moment referee Jose Luis Munuera seemingly decided that he should be the star of the show!
This referee allowed Barcelona’s second goal to stand while captain Raillo lay on the ground after being hit squarely on his head by the ball. The referee should have followed protocol and stopped the game, and he did put the whistle to his lips but for some reason failed to blow it. It’s not for the referee to determine whether a blow to the head is serious or not, the updated rules state clearly that the game should be stopped immediately for proper medical assessment. Our players stopped in anticipation of the whistle, but Barcelona’s did not. This referee was so biased towards Barcelona, and sent off two of our players in quick succession and yellow-carded coach Arrasate who was incandescent with rage. He also turned a blind eye to a definite red card tackle from Rapinha.
With nine players remaining, it wasn’t possible to fairly assess the contribution of our new signings, but hopefully that will be made clearer tomorrow (Saturday, August 23) when we play in the Son Moix against Celta Vigo, kick off 5pm. Celta lost at home last Saturday 0-2 to Getafe (who only had 13 registered players). Mallorca will be without the suspended duo of Muriqi and Morlanes (each for one game), plus Samu Costa will have a late fitness test after a knee problem. Mallorca never had a chance against the mighty Barcelona, even without the referee’s “help,” as various pundits pointed out. The few chances we had were wasted. We actually won a free kick on the halfway line in the first half then proceeded to pass the ball back to our goalkeeper!
With less than two weeks to go before the transfer window shuts, there’s still time to bring in adequate replacements. Our goalkeeping position is well covered. In defence we’ve signed our first Albanian player, 25-year-old centre back Marash Kumbulla. He arrives on loan from AS Roma until the end of the season. He holds Albanian nationality despite being born near Verona, Italy, to Albanian parents.
He’s been capped 24 times for Albania and played in La Liga for Espanyol last season, ironically scoring against us.
Right back is a problem. Morey is good going forward but his defending leaves a lot to be desired. It’s possible a right back could be signed as Maffeo is pushing hard to move away. The midfield will need reinforcements if Samu Costa leaves (to who knows where) for a fee of around 16 to 20 million euros.
Already mentioned to replace him is a 20-year-old attacking midfield Polish player, Kacper Urbanski, who’s been playing in Serie A with Bologna and has 11 caps for Poland.
It’s up front where once again Mallorca lack quality. Muriqi is a shadow of the player he was 18 months ago. We need a goal scorer – a fox in the box. Maybe new signing from Leeds Utd, Mateo Joseph, can hit the ground running. He looked quite good in the few minutes he played last weekend. Cyle Larin’s future is the albatross around Real Mallorca’s neck. Some kind of deal has to be worked out as he’s costing the club a fortune while sitting in the stand.
PS Mallorca’s Union of Supporters Clubs has sent a formal complaint to RCD Mallorca about the extortionate price of 3€ for a 50cl bottle of water at the Barça game, as pointed out in my match report last weekend. The power of the pen, eh!! Let’s see how the club responds for tomorrow’s game.
AND FINALLY, in Yorkshire a rugby league fan is in his local pub when his phone rings. After the call he’s smiling from ear to ear – he’s become the father of a 25lb (11.3 kilo) boy.
Nobody believes the baby is so heavy as the father claims the boy will play rugby league “when ’ee grows oup.” The customers begin to take bets about how much the baby will weigh in two weeks’ time.
The father comes into the pub after 14 days and the landlord asks “How much does the baby weigh now?” The father replies “20lb.”
The landlord queries “How come, when he already weighed 25lb when he was born. The man takes a swig of his Yorkshire best bitter, leans over to the landlord and confides “Ad ’im circumcised!”