Athletic Club Bilbao 2 - Real Mallorca 1
One wonders what Real Mallorca’s players and coaching staff get up to in the Son Bibiloni training ground during the week, because whatever they do isn’t working. Mallorca remain at the bottom of La Liga after losing 2-1 to Athletic Club in Bilbao on Saturday night.
Mallorca had no idea what to do with or without the ball, in what was a pathetic performance summed up by the fact that Bilbao’s goalkeeper Unai Simon didn’t touch the ball until the 37th minute. From the first blast of referee Quintero Gonzalez’s whistle, it was clear that this Real Mallorca team are light years away from the side that gave us so much joy over the past few seasons. We were outclassed in every aspect of the game. One of the biggest problems was passing the ball to a team-mate!
Bilbao were bang average and looked jaded after their 4-1 “gubbing” in the Champions League against Borussia Dortmund on Wednesday night. Apart from our goalkeeper Leo Roman, who once again was Mallorca’s best player, the rest of the team had the heebie-jeebies with the ball at their feet. Our central defenders were under the cosh most of the game and performed admirably, but in the midfield Costa, Morlanes and Darder were nowhere to be seen.
Bilbao swarmed all over Mallorca early doors and the home team earned a dubious penalty in the 9th minute which Iñaki Williams converted, although Mallorca’s keeper Leo Roman got a hand to it but couldn’t keep it out. With ten minutes played, Mallorca couldn’t get out of their own half and when they did the gaps they left behind allowed Bilbao to break at pace. Vedat Muriqi as usual ploughed a lone furrow upfront without any reward. It’s such a shame we haven’t got players who can put the ball where he wants it most, on his head.
Into the second half and the home side remained a threat. Then, out of the blue, Samu Costa put over a cross cum shot which alluded the Bilbao keeper and bulged the top left-hand corner of the net, 1-1. It may have been unintentional, but at least it brought the roof down in a packed Mallorca Sports Bar. The parity and the joy didn’t last long (five minutes, in fact). Bilbao’s Alejandro Rego saw a slide rule finish break Mallorquinistas’ hearts, 2-1.
Then just to add a dusting of icing sugar on the ensaimada, Antonio Sanchez saw two yellow cards in quick succession, the second one for sarcastically applauding the referee for another incident. The last few minutes were frenetic, as the referee showed no fewer than four further yellow cards in the space of nine minutes.
This is one of the worst Mallorca sides I’ve seen for a while. The team is suffering from lethargy and coach Arrasate’s job could well be on the line come Christmas if there’s no significant improvement. There’s no La Liga football next weekend as it’s international break time again and our next game is away against Sevilla on Saturday, October 18 at 14:00.