The first year of the post-Manuel Pellegrini era commenced with a startling thud, as through seven rounds last season, Villarreal propped every other Primera División team up at the bottom of the table.  This smooth, plucky team from the Valencian Community had not felt such futility since they made their maiden voyage to La Liga in the 1998/99 season.  In that campaign, Villarreal was relegated to the Segunda División after losing a relegation playoff to Sevilla, the last year that La Liga had a relegation playoff.

Staving off relegation never entered the mind Ernesto Valverde’s team, and they steadily improved through the next several months.  The upward curve plateaued, however, and in January 2010, the board sacked Valverde and promoted Villarreal “B” coach Juan Carlos Garrido to manage the senior team.

The unassuming yet intense Garrido knew that his time from January to the end of the season would become a de facto audition to keep the job.  He settled the squad, and Villarreal finished a respectable seventh place despite their torrid beginning.  Chairman Fernando Roig Alfonso rewarded Garrido for his work and extended his contract to June 2011 so that Garrido could have a full season to show his worth.

Garrido took that vote of confidence from the board into this season and returned Villarreal to their normal perch in the highest percentiles of Spanish football.

Even though Villarreal has been known for maintaining shrewd financial stances when it comes to signings and transfers, Fernando Roig Alfonso gave Garrido a decent transfer kitty with which to work this summer, but Garrido felt that the players he currently had were more than enough to threaten for a top-four position.  Garrido and Sporting Director Fernando Roig Negueroles believed that they only needed a couple of reinforcements from the summer transfer window.  They did not even need to use that budget because they earned enough from the transfers of Diego Godín, Damián Escudero, and Joseba Llorente to achieve for what they set out in the market.

Both of Villarreal’s summer signings, €2.2 million Carlos Marchena and €6 million Borja Valero, have made instant impacts with the team.  Specifically, Borja Valero’s sparkling play on both flanks has given both Joan Capdevila and Ángel López extra potency from their fullback positions because Borja’s combinations with them have created openings deep inside the opposition half that only enhances Nilmar and Giuseppe Rossi’s chances of finishing these moves.

Because Villarreal only signed two players for this season, Garrido felt that the players currently in the squad would raise their games and expectations from the last campaign, and they have not disappointed.

After a year of fighting major and minor injuries, Santi Cazorla has restored his place in the Spanish national team with sprightly, ebullient play for Villarreal.  Whereas Ernesto Valverde marginalized Cazorla to an extent by forcing him more into the central midfield, Garrido reinstituted Cazorla back onto the wings with the freedom to cut inside when necessary, and Cazorla has thrived under Garrido’s system with two goals, three assists, one behind Cristiano Ronaldo and Mesut Özil for the league lead, and countless numbers of pinpoint passes and unselfish runs that keep Villarreal flowing fluently.

Giuseppe Rossi and Nilmar have made themselves into the second most prolific tandem statistically with a combined ten goals through eight matches, only behind Ronaldo and Gonzalo Higuaín’s fourteen goals.  The previous season’s trio of Rossi, Nilmar, and Joseba Llorente looked formidable on paper because of Llorente’s height and strength as the center forward with the smaller, faster Rossi and Nilmar supporting on either side of Llorente.  With Nilmar adapting to Spain after his record €11 million transfer from Internacional, Rossi dealing with constant transfer rumors, and Llorente failing to feature in half of Villarreal’s fixtures due to injury and managerial decisions, they could not score consistently, even though Villarreal scored a respectable fifty-eight goals.

The most improved part of Villarreal’s team runs down the spine, as Villarreal “B” graduate and central defender Mateo Musacchio has admirably stepped into the void left by Diego Godín after his transfer to Atlético Madrid and central midfielder Bruno Soriano has controlled the center of his park by supporting the defense with his ball-winning as well as instigating counter-attacks with his array of passes.  Spanish national team coach Vicente del Bosque has been so impressed with Bruno that he called him up to the squad for their friendly against Mexico as well as their two Euro 2012 qualifiers against Lithuania and Scotland.

With all these ameliorative properties syncing together, Villarreal has won five of its first seven matches in La Liga, with only one loss to Real Sociedad in the opening round of fixtures, and currently lead their Europa League group with six points from three matches.

Villarreal, like their provincial neighbors Valencia, played through a fairly soft schedule and racked up a point tally that could compete with Real Madrid and FC Barcelona through the first seven rounds in La Liga.  Valencia has fallen back after sitting on top to their more familiar territory below Madrid and Barça due to consecutive losses to Barcelona last week and Mallorca this weekend.

After failing to claim the first position when they could only draw 2-2 against local rivals Hércules on Monday, the late Sunday kickoff against Atlético Madrid would start a stretch of five matches in the league that would truly delineate Villarreal’s odds of staying within striking distance of not only a UEFA Champions League berth but the alien concept of ripping the champion’s trophy away from Barcelona.

Villarreal could not count on the services of Mateo Musacchio and Borja Valero because of their suspensions stemming from their red cards against Hércules, but Gonzalo Rodríguez and vice-captain Cani were more than capable replacements for the pair.

For Atlético Madrid, they sent out their normal starting eleven with one exception: Diego Forlán sat on the bench for the second straight La Liga match in favor of Diego Costa.  Whether Quique Sánchez Flores kept Forlán on the sidelines because he had just played in the Europa League against Rosenborg on Thursday or because of generally poor form, the increasingly agitated striker has now become transfer speculation with links to Liverpool, Juventus, and other top European clubs.

Fortunately for Villarreal, Atlético Madrid played with a strange disinterest after the first twenty minutes that made work for the Yellow Submarine minimal to come out with a victory at home.  Cani was involved in both Villarreal goals, providing the end product after Nilmar terrorized Atlético with pure speed and composure on the ball to slot in Cani inside the box, and creating the second goal for Giuseppe Rossi after cutting in from the left wing to slice the Atlético defense yet again with a telling through ball into the penalty area.

Unfortunately for Villarreal’s perception throughout the country, Atlético Madrid did not provide the stern test that they forced Barcelona and Valencia through when they played those teams.  This match against Atlético was supposed to supply evidence whether or not Villarreal was for real.  Villarreal will have to wait to show their merits for the championship until November when they face Athletic Bilbao at home, Barcelona at the Camp Nou, and Valencia at home in consecutive weeks.  What transpired on Sunday night did not sway opinion one way or the other about Villarreal, but it did point out one glaring detail: Atlético Madrid’s schizophrenic personality has not been cured after a summer of therapy.

Fueras de Juego

- Luís Fabiano awoke from his slumber to score his first two goals of the season in Sevilla’s topsy-turvy 4-3 victory over Athletic Bilbao.  After all the summer haranguing about wanting to leave Sevilla, Fabiano stayed with the Andalucian club, and in his prior appearances before Sunday’s match against Athletic, he played and acted like a pouting schoolboy.  He actually looked interested throughout the match today, and when Fabiano cares, to no surprise, he produces with devastating aplomb

- Speaking of occasionally moody players, Cristiano Ronaldo poured in four goals in Real Madrid’s 6-1 drubbing of pathetic Racing de Santander.  While Ronaldo will receive the deserved plaudits for his outstanding performance, the man of the match was €25 million summer signing Ángel di María.  Besides assisting in two goals, he created Ronaldo’s fourth goal when Domingo Cisma felled di María in the penalty area and played an excellent left back, a position foreign to di María, when Pedro León replaced Marcelo with twenty minutes remaining.

Di María’s early struggles (he had only played in three matches for Real, mind you) had the Madridistas worried that he would become another flop.  His “Welcome to Madrid” moment came against Real Sociedad, when he gave his team the lead with a spectacular curler to the top right corner with his “weaker” right foot.  Ever since that point, he suddenly became indispensable to the starting eleven, and when a player receives the full confidence of José Mourinho, it will only help spur on his game.

- César Santin, the Brazilian forward for FC København, made himself an object of ridicule against FC Barcelona in the UEFA Champions League on Wednesday night when he stopped playing with a two-on-two breakaway with teammate Dame N’Doye, thinking he was called offside.  The assistant referee did not raise his flag, and referee Stéphane Lannoy did not blow his whistle.  That opportunity ended up as one of only two or three chances that København had of threatening José Manuel Pinto’s goal that entire night.

The situation took a turn to the weird when København lodged a formal complaint to UEFA on Friday, stating that Pinto simulated the referee’s whistle in order to dupe Santin.  Pinto could face a two-match European ban for this alleged “violation of decent conduct.”  With all the whistles that rain down from the crowd every match, Santin should not get his signals crossed with the real whistle, but if Pinto has the ability to whistle just like a referee’s whistle, full credit to Pinto for such a ruse.  Unsportsmanlike behavior, absolutely, but would not pride prevent Santin from admitting that Pinto fooled him into grinding to a halt?  Pinto could not even make the halfway line with his goal kicks, so apparently, he allegedly needed to use the last item in his bag of tricks to keep FC København at bay.  More column space about this delicious “Whistle-Gate” side story to come.

Injuries forced Vicente del Bosque to alter his standard squad for Spain’s forthcoming Euro 2012 fixtures against Lithuania on Friday and Scotland on Tuesday.  Xavi Hernández is suffering from tendinitis, Cesc Fábregas has an ankle injury, Jesús Navas is dealing with a thigh strain, Fernando Torres limped off against Blackpool on Sunday with a groin problem and Pedro Rodríguez sustained a hamstring injury on Saturday against Mallorca.

Del Bosque rewarded Villarreal and Valencia for their stellar starts to the campaign by calling up four players to replace the injured, two from each team, that rarely receive an invitation to the national team squad.  While Santi Cazorla, Carlos Marchena, and Joan Capdevila from Villarreal are regulars on the national team, del Bosque also included Bruno Soriano, a no-nonsense defensive midfielder with one cap to his name, and Borja Valero, a creative playmaker who will make his maiden voyage in international football with the Spanish national team.

From Valencia, del Bosque recalled Pablo Hernández, who has not made an appearance for La Furia Roja since scoring in a friendly against Austria in November 2009, and gave Aritz Aduriz, a physical center forward similar to Fernando Llorente, his first call-up to the national team.

Goalkeepers: Iker Casillas, Pepe Reina, Víctor Valdés

Defenders: Sergio Ramos, Álvaro Arbeloa, Gerard Piqué, Carles Puyol, Carlos Marchena, Joan Capdevila, Nacho Monreal

Midfielders: Andrés Iniesta, Sergio Busquets, Xabi Alonso, Bruno Soriano, Santi Cazorla, Borja Valero, Pablo Hernández, David Silva

Forwards: David Villa, Fernando Llorente, Aritz Aduriz

A dispiriting final matchday left Mallorca forty seconds away from qualifying for the Champions League.  Sevilla manager Antonio Álvarez took a huge gamble late in that match by sending Sevilla youth product Rios Lozano Rodri into the match instead of Luís Fabiano, and Rodri broke the hearts of Los Barralets with an acrobatic goal in the fourth and final minute of stoppage time to defeat Almería 2-3 and finish fourth in La Liga, the final Champions League place.  To watch the drama unfold on the jumbo screen at the ONO Estadi was already hard enough, but the news that the club will enter administration will likely wreck an exciting squad that became one of the pleasant surprises in La Liga this season.

For those who do not know what administration means in this context, here is a brief explanation.  When a football team cannot pay off their outstanding debts, the court will assign “administrators,” mostly accountants, in charge of nearly every aspect of the club, and the accountants’ first order of business includes paying off football-related debts before any other job.  Administration serves as a rescue mechanism so that the club can continue to operate despite their debt owed to players, staff, and creditors.  In America, it is similar to filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

The dirty little secret behind Mallorca’s success this campaign was their massive debt accumulated over the past few seasons.  Whether Champions League money would have eased that burden and prevented them from having to seek voluntary administration will always remain an unanswered question, but their reported €85 million debt grew too large to ignore any further.

According to majority shareholder Mateu Alemany:

“Over the past two years, Mallorca has suffered a very complex economic situation, with serious financial problems and an inability to meet its commitments.  This is a legal instrument that enables Mallorca to see the future in another way: to have a budget structure that has logic and controls debt, to take stringent budgetary measures to bring spending in line with earning capacity.

These are necessary things that open a future of hope that is necessary and has not existed at the club for two years. The bankruptcy law gives us this opportunity and provides a positive expectation for the club. It is a solution, not a problem.

Whatever happens, we start a new stage. It’s exciting because it ensures the viability of this club, which has been in serious danger of disappearing.”

With all of the economics explained, how will administration affect the team for next season?

UEFA president Michel Platini has not held back his criticism of clubs who continue to run their clubs on such poor economic standing and has threatened to exclude teams from UEFA competitions who are forced to enter administration or pile up an enormous debt.  There were more than a few whispers that Mallorca would be one of those clubs shut out of Europe, but Alemany ensured that Mallorca would compete in the UEFA Europa League next season after the Spanish football federation (RFEF) granted Mallorca their UEFA license.

Gregorio Manzano, the man who led Mallorca for the past four and a half seasons, will not return next season because the club cannot afford to meet his technical and financial demands.  In his first spell with the club in the 2002-03 season, he led Mallorca to a decent ninth place finish, but his biggest achievement that season was capturing the Copa del Rey with a 3-0 triumph over Recreativo Huelva with all three goals coming from fairly decent strikers: one from Walter Pandiani and the other two from Samuel Eto’o.  The winner of the Don Balón award for coach of the year in 2008, Manzano will likely receive the award for the second time this season after guiding Mallorca to their best finish in La Liga for nine years.

For a manager to keep his players focused on the pitch when economic turmoil behind the scenes made the club unable to pay the players for a few months, Manzano performed miracles, especially at home, where the seemingly unimposing ONO Estadi transformed into a formidable fortress.  Fifteen wins and one draw out of nineteen matches was an incredible feat, and he had to maintain such a stellar record at home because of their woeful play away from the Balearic Islands.

Whether Mallorca entered administration or not, Manzano was heavily linked to the Sevilla job currently held by caretaker Antonio Álvarez, and with Mallorca having no ability to compensate for Manzano €1.5 million per year salary, Manzano will need to seek a new club.  West Ham United noted their interest in Manzano, although Avram Grant looks set to take over the reins at Upton Park for the recently fired Gianfranco Zola.

As for the squad, many of the top-rated players will likely leave in the summer as well.  For the previous season, the wage bill equaled €34.6 million, and Mallorca will cut that budget considerably.  Alemany noted this impending fire sale when he said, “There will be a philosophy of austerity.  The insolvency will affect the first team squad and those who earn the most.”

Borja Valero, the influential playmaker in the midfield, will go back to his parent club West Bromwich Albion, who will return to the Premier League next season after spending a season in the Coca-Cola Championship.  Earlier in the season, Mallorca wanted to make his loan move permanent, but with the economic realities rushing upon them, Mallorca cannot afford a €5 million+ transfer fee.

Iván Ramis, who was rumored to go to Celtic in the January transfer window, formed a pivotal partnership with Nunes in central defense and held opponents to forty-four goals, the fourth-best defense in La Liga.  Ramis will attract many European teams, and while Mallorca wanted a fee in the neighborhood of €3.5 million when Celtic coveted him in January, Mallorca’s desperation to balance the books means that anything more than €3.5 million will be highly unlikely despite Ramis’ outstanding season.

Felipe Mattioni, the 21-year-old Brazilian right back starlet, will not return, as Maga Esporte, the sporting agency that owns his rights, expects a hefty fee for this promising defender from the Grêmio youth system.

Others might be on the way out, such as Aritz Aduriz, Gonzalo Castro, and Dudu Aouate, so the Mallorca squad that came within one minute of Champions League recognition will be drastically different from the team that will play their first official match of the season in the Europa League qualifiers in August.  Valencia can commiserate with their Mallorcan neighbors, as their debt has coerced them to sell David Villa to FC Barcelona and likely give David Silva to the highest bidder (Real Madrid).  Valencia, however, has the depth to be relevant in European competition in spite of the losses of Villa and Silva, whereas Mallorca does not.

Unless the club has a billionaire owner or has a glorious history, Mallorca’s fate, unfortunately, will become more and more frequent as these smaller clubs try to compete with the Real Madrids and the Barcelonas of the world by overpaying in both transfer fees and wages.  The news that the total debt in La Liga amasses over €3.53 billion with a “b” only furthers the notion that clubs are compelled to overspend in order to stay afloat in the league.  Barcelona, Real Madrid, and Numancia were the only teams to make an operating profit, and Numancia was relegated to the Segunda División last season.

The same seven or eight teams in Europe continue to pursue the most valuable and most talented players in the world, and if the status quo remains, teams like Mallorca, Valencia, and other second-tier teams throughout Europe will eventually become mere breeding grounds for Chelsea, Manchester United, Real Madrid, Barcelona, etc. to pilfer their players when they have matured, much like what Ajax, PSV, and Lyon have become.

A half-empty stadium.  A running track surrounding the pitch that places the fans further away from the action.  Supporters that create less noise and din than those at the Vancouver Olympic Centre, where the Olympic Curling competition is contested.  The ONO Estadi hardly constitutes as an intimidating atmosphere, but RCD Mallorca has managed to maintain a perfect ten-for-ten home record in La Liga.

Twenty-seven goals scored and three conceded show their dominance on the Balearic island, but whom they beat in this incredible home record somewhat sullies their sparkling home form.  Valencia and none of the Champions League teams have visited the ONO Estadi.  Defeating Athletic Bilbao, Deportivo La Coruña, and Villarreal created a few notches on Mallorca’s belt, but their horrific standing away from home means that they need to secure positive results against the top teams in La Liga in order to remain in the final Champions League spot.

The late 10:00 PM Saturday kickoff saw Mallorca play Sevilla, one of their direct rivals competing for fourth place.  They knew that Deportivo La Coruña came through victoriously over Xerez 2-1 at El Riazor earlier in the evening and climbed one point over them.

Squad rotation in anticipation of Sevilla’s Champions League first leg against CSKA Moskva on Wednesday and injuries meant that they did not present their strongest eleven against Los Barralets.  Sevilla manager Manolo Jiménez omitted Diego Perotti, Luís Fabiano, Adriano Correia, and Julien Escudé, whereas Frédéric Kanouté could not pass a late fitness test.

Mallorca, however, fielded their optimal eleven, although their bench was thin due to injuries for Víctor Casadesús, Tuni, and Alhassane Keita.  Eager to quiet the skeptics about their weak home strength of schedule to this point, they wanted to regain their leads over Sevilla and Deportivo La Coruña.

Mallorca’s fans did not receive the memo, as the team’s most important match of the season was not enough to tempt them to fill the ONO Estadi.  The status quo prevailed for the islanders as the stadium featured many empty seats and unexceptional support from their fans.  Unfazed by this, Mallorca did what they have done all season at home: score first.

Ayoze sent a through ball down the left flank for Gonzalo Castro to run onto, and Castro’s cross into the box avoided the head of Sevilla defender Ivica Dragutinović and bounced straight to the unmarked Borja Valero.  He could not take the shot first-time, so he controlled it with one touch, but Andrés Palop rushed quickly toward him to take it off his foot.  Valero dribbled past Palop, but his touch took him to the brink of the end line, where he cut back a squared pass to Mario Suárez.  Suárez tapped it home for the 1-0, 5th minute lead.  Replays only showed inconclusiveness about whether the whole of the ball went out before Valero crossed it, but nevertheless, the goal stood.

Dudu Aouate has been a solid goalkeeper all season and directly contributed to Mallorca’s fifth-place defense, twenty-four goals allowed in twenty-two matches.  He plays with an aggressive flair, but this cost him in the 23rd minute, when he inexplicably scurried out of his box to clear a long ball from Fernando Navarro.  Aouate had no chance of getting to the ball because the breathless speed of Jesús Navas would always arrive first.  Navas took a touch around Aouate and guided a left-footed effort into the open net from just inside of the penalty box.

When Álvaro Negredo received a straight red card in the 24th minute for a deliberate kick on José Luís Martí, another Mallorca home triumph seemed imminent.  The red card was a little harsh, but Negredo’s petulancy and skulduggery cost his side a man for the final 66+ minutes.  Mallorca controlled the rest of the first half, which included a perfect opportunity for an anonymous Aritz Aduriz to boot in a beautiful Borja Valero early cross, but he could not steer it towards goal.  Aduriz and Negredo are currently in a battle for the final spot for forwards in the Spanish national team with Dani Güiza, Fernando Llorente, and Roberto Soldado, and neither Aduriz nor Negredo would give national team coach Vicente del Bosque anything to add to their résumés.

Heading toward a 1-1 halftime score, Mallorca defender Iván Ramis tried to retrieve possession away from Didier Zokora and scissor-tackled him from behind in the second minute of stoppage time.  Referee Fernando Teixeira Vitienes was not hesitant in flashing the red card, and Mallorca’s advantage withered away.  1-1 halftime.  Although the two teams combined for twenty-six fouls, three yellow cards, and two red cards, the play, as a whole, was neither dirty nor overly physical.  Spanish referees tend to call the match a little tighter than most referees, but Teixeira Vitienes’ fastidious nature led to many of these calls when they were not necessarily as bad as he saw them.

When Sevilla scored in the 57th minute to take the one-goal advantage, the invincibility that shielded this Mallorca club at home disappeared for the first time all season.  Ivica Dragutinović made Aouate look like a fool as his free kick from near the right touchline curled over Aouate’s outstretched hand and into the top left corner of the net.  Aouate cheated and took a couple of steps forward and off his line in anticipation of a cross, and he could not recover once he saw that the free kick was heading toward goal.  Two goalkeeping mistakes from the Israeli international, and Mallorca could not recoup.

Sevilla would score a third goal six minutes later, but the defeated attitude that Mallorca displayed for most of the second half meant that 1-2 would have been enough for the Andalusians.  Mallorca substitute Pierre Webó became one of the few Mallorca players to display the gusto needed to achieve a positive result against Sevilla, but his efforts were in vain as he did not receive the help needed to overturn the two-goal deficit.  Paradoxically, Mallorca played with the spirit and desire required of them to defeat top opposition when they fell two goals behind, but as the full time whistle blew, Mallorca suffered its first defeat at the ONO Estadi in the league.

It was not the final whistle, however, as someone in the crowd ridiculously decided to bring his own whistle and declared the match over before Teixeira Vitienes blew his whistle for fulltime.  Less than a minute later, the match was officially over, but the whistle in the crowd meant much more than a fan frustrated with his home team’s effort.

Unless Mallorca can ameliorate their enigmatic road form, they will need to secure points against Barcelona, Real Madrid, Valencia, and Atlético Madrid at home in order to maintain a top six spot and be invited into European competition next season.  Sevilla righted their ship and are now four points ahead of Deportivo La Coruña and five points ahead of Mallorca for the final Champions League place.  Athletic Bilbao crept to within one point of Mallorca with their 4-1 mauling of Tenerife at the San Mamés for the final Europa League spot, so Mallorca cannot afford to be mediocre the rest of the way.

It would be fatuous to declare that Mallorca’s season would be a disappointment if they do not finish in a European place because at this point last season, they were mired in the relegation zone.  Their perfect home record was never going to last, but the way in which they conceded the loss to Sevilla unveiled their growing fatigue.  Unless they receive a surge of vitality, do not be surprised to see this engaging club fall into mid-table before the season concludes.

Fueras de Juego

- Look at Barcelona’s second goal against Racing Santander to see how not to perform the responsibilities of a player in the wall on a free kick.  Thierry Henry’s free kick would have bounced off the middle of the wall if the Racing players were brave enough to take the hit.  Instead, the wall broke in the middle as they parted like the Red Sea, and Barcelona was on their way to another easy victory.

- Almería 1-0 Atlético Madrid.  Every adjective and description should be and has been used for Los Colchoneros this season.  It was almost expected for Atleti to struggle against low-lying Almería after they handed Barcelona its first defeat in La Liga.

- A couple of tributes at the Santiago Bernabéu brought some perspective to the weekly “importance” of football matches.  Before kickoff, there was a minute of silence for the death of Real Madrid legend Luis Molowny.  Then there was Cristiano Ronaldo’s tribute to his home island Madeira after he scored the opening goal for Real Madrid against Villarreal.  He lifted his jersey to reveal the written “Madeira” on his undershirt.  A simple and understated message for his homeland, who has endured floods and mudslides that have killed at least forty-three and injured many others with many still missing to this point.  He will play in a charity match for the flood victims between FC Porto and an amalgamation of players from the two Madeira-based Portuguese Liga sides, C.S. Marítimo and CD Nacional at a date later to be determined.

Gonzalo Castro celebrating his game-winning goal.

At the crossroads of the Pyrenees and the fruitful Ebro valley lays the Estadio Reyno de Navarra in Pamplona, where RCD Mallorca visited Osasuna in Round 14 of La Liga.  A cold, crisp night with a wintry wind whipping through the bones of the players and the supporters, the below freezing weather suits no team but especially the not the islanders, who continue to experience the last bit of Fall conditions on the Mediterranean Sea.

This Sunday evening in Navarre was meant to sit around the fireplace with brandy in hand rather than sit in the exposed seats of Reyno de Navarra and bundle up in blankets, coats, and other people.  Regardless of the conditions, Mallorca was on a mission.  Winless in six away matches this season, Mallorca wanted to right this wrong at a place notorious for visitors trying to achieve a positive result.

Just as walking through Navarrería, the Casco Viejo (old city) part of Pamplona, emotes a completely different atmosphere from the fashionable and modern Barrio de San Juan in the western section of the city, Mallorca’s performances at home in the ONO Estadi are in stark contrast to their away form.  Starting this weekend’s matches in sixth place, their high position is solely due to a perfect seven for seven record in Palma de Mallorca, accounting for twenty-one of their twenty-four points.  Although the toughest opponent they beat at home was mid-table Getafe, a team worthy of a European place should defeat the teams below them in the ladder at home.

Whereas the city of Pamplona is known for its languid, leisurely pace, the first half of the Osasuna – Mallorca match was anything but slow.  Both teams created few significant chances, and the twenty-two combined fouls duly described the physical nature of this encounter.

Osasuna’s Walter Pandiani and Nacho Monreal missed the match due to injury, and Mallorca did not have the services of Borja Valero due to a thigh injury in last week’s match against Real Zaragoza.  These three players provide attacking inspiration for their respective sides, and their absences were painfully obvious because the best chance to score in the first half came from Osasuna, when a swift counter-attack in the second minute of stoppage sent substitute Jorge Galán on a run down the right flank with trailing defenders only hoping to track him down.  When he cut into the box, he had ample opportunities to trouble Israeli international goalkeeper Dudu Aouate, but what transpired was a weak roller that Aouate scooped up easily.

Mallorca, although creating few chances, likely was the happier team heading into the dressing room because their away form has been atrocious compared to their 100% home record.  Keeping a clean sheet for forty-five minutes when they had conceded thirteen goals in six away matches should have pleased entrenador Gregorio Manzano.

Pamplona’s call to worldwide fame is the San Fermín festival, held every year in early July.  The most prominent event of this festival is the Running of the Bulls, where locals and foreigners alike navigate and scramble through the streets of Pamplona in the traditional and iconic white shirt and pants with the red waistband and neckerchief to avoid the onrushing bulls as they enter the bullring.

Akin to this spectacle, the first fifteen minutes of the second half seemed as though the shackles were lifted, and the players allowed each other to generate attacking opportunities.  This open style favored Mallorca, and although Osasuna produced decent chances themselves, Mallorca broke the deadlock in the 61st minute with a wonder strike from Gonzalo Castro.  Slashing into the penalty area, Castro had the option of squaring the ball across the box to Aritz Aduriz, who looked as though he had an easy tap-in.  Aduriz’s high-level form this season initiated whispers of a possible spot on the Spanish national team for World Cup 2010, so the possibility of Aduriz scoring from that position was quite high.  Castro, however, decided to take one more dribble laterally and unleashed all the might in his left leg into the ball.  Osasuna keeper Ricardo had no chance as it punished the top left corner of the net.

Once Mallorca grabbed the lead, they reverted to their first half philosophy and flooded the midfield to stunt an Osasuna comeback.  Two of their substitutions included the insertions of midfielder Paulo Pezzolano and right back Felipe Mattioni in place of attacking forces Pierre Webó and Gonzalo Castro.  Gregorio Manzano’s gameplan and tactics worked to perfection, with Osasuna failing to bother Dudu Aouate in the final half-hour.  Mallorca secured their first win on their travels against a worthy foe on a bitterly chilly dusk.

Café Iruña

This Mallorca campaign started out as a nice early season story, but now as the league continues toward the Christmas break, their supposedly inevitable fall has not happened.  Currently, they stand fifth in the table; the last time they finished in the top five was the 2000/01 season, when a young Cameroonian striker from Real Madrid Castilla named Samuel Eto’o led their forward line and completed their second third-place finish in three years.  After a numbing and glacial two hours in the Navarre winter, the Mallorca players and staff deserved a small token of appreciation for their workmanlike performance.

The beautiful art deco Café Iruña, a Pamplona institution, is a perfect place to relax and dine on some sumptuous tapas.  Might this writer recommend the Paella Valenciana as a first course, Escalope de Jamon y Queso con Patatas Fritas as a second course, and Flan Casero al Caramelo for dessert.  Wash this down with the local Navarre tinto, and this will conclude a fitting capper to a pleasant Sunday evening.  At least for the Mallorcans, but even for the Osasuna fans who braved the elements.  Commiseration and celebration always merits exquisite food and drink.