Prediction: Mallorca vs Real Madrid

August 28th 2010

Having been denied the chance to play European football due to the poor financial situation, Mallorca are forced to fully focus on La Liga and what better way to show everyone how serious they are than beating Real in their opening game. With Jose Mourinho at the helm, los Merengues are hoping to finally pip Barcelona to the league title and the bright start is a must if they are to fulfill their title ambitions.

Led by talented coach Michael Laudrup, Mallorca finished previous La Liga campaign in remarkable fifth place, just one point short of the Champions League places. Nevertheless, the Islanders were denied a chance to participate in Europa League but that didn’t stop them from reinforcing the squad with players like Fernando Cavenaghi and Jonathan De Guzman. While I am pretty sure the team do not have the quality to repeat the success from last season, they can definitely count on the mid table position and maybe take another shot at the European football. There is no doubt the hosts are extremely motivated to prevent mighty Real from winning the game, but that might be too much to ask from them at the moment. Michael Laudrup has already stated that he wouldn’t allocate a special marker for Cristiano Ronaldo, whereas he is still pondering whether to include Fernando Cavenaghi in the starting line-up. Defender Ivan Ramis definitely misses out through injury.

Jose Mourinho’s arrival at Santiago Bernabeu has created a buzz around the squad and the early signs suggest he could do much better than his predecessors. However, with Real dropping just 18 points in 38 games last term and still finishing in second place, a flying start is absolutely essential for los Merengues if they want to keep up with Barca and they simply have to beat Mallorca even with all the selection problems Mourinho has at the moment. In the absence of Raul Albiol and Ezequiel Garay, Ricardo Carvalho looks set to start in defence, whereas young Sergio Canales will be preferred to Ozil and Van der Vaart as a creative midfielder. Kaka, Mahamadou Diarra, Pepe and Gago remain sidelined, but with such a big squad to choose from, that is unlikely to pose a problem for Mourinho.

Conclusion

Jose Mourinho has instilled a new found confidence in the players and that was more than evident in the warm-up games. With so many excellent players on the field and even on the bench, Real have got to be considered favorites here, even if Mallorca can cause them some problems at ONO Estadi. If nothing else succeeds, the Mourinho effect should help los Merengues record the opening victory.

Veridict: Away win Real Madrid (2)

Best Odds: 2/5

Bookmaker: William Hill