After a week when a friend of mine rang a restaurant in Palma to ask if they had wheelchair access – he was told that they accept all major credit cards! – Real Mallorca and La Liga have no game this weekend because the Spanish cup final takes place on Saturday between Real Sociedad and Atletico Madrid.
Instead Real Mallorca have a vital home game against Valencia on Tuesday night at 7pm. La Liga enters its decisive stage and the fight for survival gets more intense. Every point is precious, every mistake a precipice. A few weeks ago Real Mallorca looked to be one of the nailed-on relegation candidates and somehow things had to change. Coach Jagoba Arrasate was made the scapegoat and was given his P45 to be replaced by Argentinian Martin Demichelis.
His methods off and on the pitch have worked wonders and the team have responded with an authority that has inspired belief. At last Real Mallorca have found their identity playing in a possession-based 4-2-4 diamond shape, being guided by a born-again Sergi Darder, Pablo Torre and Manu Morlanes.
However, the player who’s set the Son Moix alight is an honest professional from Kosovo (a country which Spain refuse to recognise), called Vedat Muriqi. His contribution goals against Real Madrid and Rayo Vallecano gave him a record 55 strikes. He’s now entered the club’s history books. Indeed after the Rayo game, Muriqi signed his boots which are now hanging in the Son Moix museum.
Unfortunately three of our players have picked up long term injuries with two of them, Raillo and Mateu Joseph, having surgery in Barcelona for cruciate knee ligament damage. Both these injuries were picked up on the training ground. Last Sunday Angolan “flying machine” Zito Luvumbo went down in a tackle. He normally gets straight back up again but this time he didn’t. After lengthy treatment he tried to carry on to no avail.
Turns out he has a hamstring problem which means he’ll be out for three or four weeks. He had started the last three games and has formed a lethal partnership with Muriqi. The Cantabrian striker Mateu Joseph’s injury is a tragedy. At 22 years of age he’s on loan from “Dirty !” Leeds United who no longer wanted him in their squad.
The Elland Road side now find themselves with a player injured in the summer who they’ll have difficulty to move on. Mateu has been known at Mallorca more for his work rate and competitiveness than the two goals he scored away at Sevilla. Mallorca wanted the option of getting him back but this serious injury complicates another loan deal.
Muriqi’s career at Real Mallorca is real “Roy of the Rovers” stuff. Arriving as an unknown four years ago from Italian football, winning the hearts of fans through his goalscoring prowess and professionalism, and dethroning Samuel Eto’o with his then record of 54, “El Pirata” has become a legend. I can’t wait to see if he can become La Liga “Pichichi” (leading goalscorer). At the moment he’s two behind one of world football’s top players Kylian Mbappe, who has 23 this season.
With the club’s injury list mounting, it’s now time for 19-year-old Jan Virgili to move into the limelight again. He’s a super-talented left winger and possesses something you don’t see much of these days, the “art of dribbling!” Despite having earned his starting spot earlier in the season, the new coach has left him on the bench. He’s gone from Arrasate’s favourite to Demichelis’s underdog. That first day under the Argentinian manager was a nightmare for the youngster.
Just minutes after stepping onto the pitch at Osasuna determined to prove the new “gaffer” wrong for not picking him at the start, he received a totally harsh straight red that kept him out of the squad for two games. When his ban was over, Virgili realised he was no longer an automatic choice in the starting line-up.
Then with Luvumbo’s unexpected emergence, Virgili dropped further down the pecking order as Demichelis didn’t seem to want his pace down the left flank. Instead the coach opted for midfielders with just one spot reserved for speedsters up front.
After the most difficult month in Virgili’s fledgling La Liga career, he came on last Sunday in the 65th minute to replace the injured Luvumbo. Pablo Torre took a free kick and Virgili volleyed home with both feet off the ground. That goal was something his fans desperately wanted, the reason being he deserved it more than most.
AND FINALLY, Wednesday (April 15) saw the 114th anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic in 1912.
Let’s imagine this: If Donald Trump had captained the Titanic he may have announced “There is no iceberg. We won’t hit an iceberg. I knew it was an iceberg. The penguins brought the iceberg here. No one could have predicted the iceberg. We cannot allow an iceberg to stop our ship. The crew is spreading fake news about icebergs. Some of you have to drown. I am the best captain, ask anyone.”