Mallorca on the rise as they beat Atlético Madrid

RCD Mallorca inflicted only the second away league defeat of the season on a poor Atlético Madrid side on Wednesday night ensuring their coach, Diego “Cholo” Simeone (the highest paid coach in European football), will spend the next 50 days outside Champions League positions. Mallorca took to the immaculate Son Moix turf in front of 14,875 spectators, smelling blood after beating Villarreal 2-0 last Sunday. Man of the match once again was Vedat Muriqi and he scored the game’s only goal in the 16th minute. He’s now scored a whopping 58% of Mallorca’s league goals, the highest percentage of any La Liga player for one team.

Spain’s No. 1 World Cup striker, Alvaro Morata, gave “Los Colchoneros” an immediate response with a great strike, but the wonderful (!) VAR ruled it out, as one of Atletico’s players had a nose hair in an offside position. Mallorca looked to have total control of the game and once again our defence was rock solid. Serbian goalkeeper Pedrag Rajkovic (who’s off to Qatar next week) made a stunning save near the end as the Palma side hung on for another famous victory.

This result was gold for Mallorca but was a disaster for Atletico Madrid in their “poncy” orange ensemble. They were a bundle of nerves and made countless mistakes.

We go into the seven-week break in mid table and nobody would have thought that when the season started. A word about the arrogant Diego Simeone, who spent most of the game outside his technical area and several times strayed onto the pitch. The fourth official turned a blind eye to Simeone’s misdemeanours until he got a yellow card late in the game. Many fans stayed behind after the final whistle to cheer Mallorca off the pitch. Coach Javier Aguirre has now got a team that’s going to be difficult to beat. Mallorca play a Copa del Rey match away against Autol Rioja on Saturday at 6.30pm. It’s live on Movistar.

Alarm bells may be ringing in January when the transfer window reopens with English Premier League clubs looking to reinforce their striking options, and RCD Mallorca’s in-form attacker Vedat Muriqi could be top of the most-wanted list. There’s no doubt the Kosovan hitman (eight goals and third-top scorer in La Liga) is having a sensational start to the season and his representatives (agents) will be already listening to rumours. His clause at Mallorca is a big secret but social media outlets indicate the Palma club would not listen to any offers under 40 million euros. That’s a lot of money in Spanish football but not so much in either the Premier League or indeed the Championship in England. Mallorca (for a small club who regularly punch above their weight) have invested a lot of money in Muriqi and it’s known that he and his family have fallen in love with the island and the plan is for them to be here for a long time.

However, the best-laid plans of mice and men mean deals and contracts are of little relevance in the crazy world of modern football, in a market where centre forwards are in short supply and the few that exist who score regularly are being paid top wages. Mallorca would be defenceless if a big offer came in, as he would be sensational in the English Premiership but of course it would be down to the player himself to decide to stick or twist.

There’s no question Muriqi has endeared himself to Mallorquinistas and like his nickname “El Pirata” he’s conquered the island ! The Kosovan is earning a place in Real Mallorca folklore thanks to his charisma, camaraderie and his “get stuck in” attitude both in attack and defence. It’s not easy to win over the hearts of the fickle Son Moix faithful but he won them from day one of his loan deal last campaign. He saved the team by scoring five goals in half a season, and this term he’s set to get well past that total.

His eight goals in 14 games make him one of the best goalscorers at the club since the legendary Samuel Eto’o in years gone by. At this time of the season ten years ago, the Israeli striker Tomer Hemed scored seven. Other killers in the 18-yard box who were banging them in after 14 games were Dani Guiza, Ariz Aduriz and Walter “El Rifle” Pandiani.

AND FINALLY, a couple were doing very early Christmas shopping. The shopping centre was packed and as the wife walked around she was surprised to discover that her husband was nowhere to be seen. She was quite upset because they had a lot to do and she became so worried that she called him on her mobile phone to ask him where he was. In a quiet voice he said : “Do you remember the jewellers we went into about five years ago, where you fell in love with that diamond necklace that we couldn’t afford, and I told you that I would get it for you one day ?” The wife choked up and started to cry and answered “Yes, I do remember that shop, darling.” He replied “Well, I’m in the pub next door !”