Despite Real Mallorca losing 2-0 to Atletico Madrid in front 55,000 on Saturday night, the Palma side looked to have found some kind of form, especially in the second half when a resurgent Sergi Darder hit the bar twice from a corner and a free kick. Atletico hadn’t lost a La Liga match in their stadium all season and never looked like losing on Saturday night but after a poor first half, Mallorca came mighty close to getting a draw.
It’s true Mallorca have suffered five consecutive losses in 2025 across all competitions but if they play like they did in the second half, they should recover the form which has given them a highly respectable 30 points. Things on paper at least should look much easier as we have two home games in a row on the horizon against Osasuna and Las Palmas.
Mallorca offered very little in the first half as they failed to register a shot on target. They held out for 27 minutes when the home side took the lead. Our five-man defence was hanging on to repel wave after wave of Atleti attacks and then our rear guard was breached. Muriqi back defending gave the ball away cheaply and Atletico’s Brazilian winger Lino saw his low cross/shot beat Dominik Grief in the Mallorca goal. Muriqi had realised his mistake as he pulled his shirt up over his head. A word of praise for Greif, who made a string of stunning saves to keep Mallorca in the game, but he had no chance with the opener.
We looked second best for the rest of the first half and changes had to be made by coach Arrasate. He duly obliged by bringing on two wingers, Navarro and Asano. The Japanese player made an immediate impact and from his efforts a corner kick from Darder was touched on to the bar by Atletico’s goalkeeper Oblak. Los Bermellones were beginning to put pressure on Atletico as their coach Simeone (in his 500th game in charge) took his jacket off! Mallorca were playing much better as Arrasate introduced more substitutes in Abdon Prats and B team fullback Jan Salas. His introduction to the big time saw ex-Chelsea player Conor Gallagher producing an ugly studs up tackle that sent Salas flying. It looked for all intents and purposes like a clear red card but of course I’m talking about Real Mallorca and we don’t seem to get red card decisions for bad tackles or even a VAR intervention like other bigger clubs do.
With time running out, Mallorca looked totally knackered. So much so that in the 92nd minute with Mallorca chasing a point up the other end, Atletico broke away and Griezmann scored a superb second goal, chipping Dominik Greif to seal all three points for Los Colchoneros. Heartbreak for Real Mallorca as we still remain mired in a crisis of results.
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