Mallorca are earning their stripes
In the animal kingdom, the art of surprise is fundamental to survival. Stealth and strength are key attributes too. Like a tiger on the hunt for prey, patience and opportunism are paramount. If you look closely, tucked away in the Balearics, there is a team from LaLiga executing all of this to perfection.
On Friday night Mallorca beat Celta 1-0 to reach 25 points after 18 matches. Five more wins from the remaining 20 games will surely guarantee survival. But Mallorca, without admitting it, are starting to look a little higher.
This victory was a classic hard-fought Friday night encounter that LaLiga purists have come to know and love. Mallorca are 10th, but these three points have placed the islanders just three points behind Atlético Madrid in the Champions League places. Those above them have a game in hand, true enough, but nobody has been talking about Mallorca in terms of European qualification. They have crept up on the main pretenders, their survival instinct driving them on further still.
The winning goal was scored by Dani Rodríguez, who celebrated with a deep cathartic bellow which echoed around the Visit Mallorca Estadi, and probably all around Palma. The veteran roared again, almost 400 days since his last LaLiga goal, and it was as if the weight of the world had risen from his shoulders.
Mallorca are not the prettiest of teams, but their charm lies in their surgical efficiency. They have scored 15 goals in their 18 games (0.83 per game). To put that into context, only Real Valladolid, Cádiz and Elche have scored fewer. But their conversion of goals into points is the highest across Europe’s top five leagues. Each goal they score is worth 1.66 points, a measure of points per goal if you will.
Only two players have scored more in LaLiga than Vedat Muriqi, but the big Kosovan hasn’t scored since the World Cup.
One of the key reasons for the efficiency is their resolute defensive performance, led by Antonio Raíllo and backed up by the impressive Predrag Rajković, a significant upgrade on Manolo Reina and Sergio Rico. This season, Mallorca have conceded only 16 goals thus far, the same number as Real Madrid and fewer than Real Sociedad. At this stage last season they had conceded 27 by the same stage. Rajković has also kept seven clean sheets, a figure only beaten by Marc-André ter Stegen and Unai Simón.
This efficiency is further illustrated by looking at their results. With low for and against tallies, Mallorca are not the team to go and watch if goals are your preference. There have been only 31 in total across their league games this season, the fewest in the league. They have won three home games in a row, something they hadn’t achieved in the top flight since 2012, and they have all been by a 1-0 scoreline.
This has been masterminded by everyone’s guilty pleasure coach: Javier Aguirre. The Mexican maestro registered his 152nd LaLiga win, moving him into the historical top 20. Among current LaLiga coaches, only Diego Simeone, Ernesto Valverde and Manuel Pellegrini have won more Primera matches.
This wealth of experience leads him to be cautious: he won’t be taking anything for granted. “My experience in LaLiga tells me we have to be prudent” he said after the game. For Mallorca, the eye of the tiger is still survival first and foremost.