La Liga
Mallorca vs Real Madrid Preview
Real Madrid will leave main-land Spain and travel to the Balearic Islands where they will face Mallorca for the first time since 2012.
- Date: Saturday, October 19, 2019
- Time: 3:00 p.m. (EST)
- Network: beIN Sports, FuboTV
- Location: Madrid, Spain
- Venue: Son Moix Stadium
- Seating Capacity: 23,142
Mallorca vs Real Madrid Preview
Los Blancos sit atop La Liga and remain the only team yet to see defeat. Nevertheless, eternal rivals Barcelona are at their heels despite having a slow start to the year. As a matter of fact, by the time this match kicks off on Saturday, the Catalans may have already taken top spot if they manage an away win versus Eibar earlier in the day. Therefore, the whites may need to pick up points in order to maintain their position.
Literally, Mallorca are very much on the other side of things. In their first season back to La Liga, Vicente Moreno’s team are in the relegation zone with two wins out of eight matches. However, the islanders have occasionally shown grit such as in their draw with Athletic Bilbao in match-day four. They will look to take advantage of a Madrid side with most of its players returning from international break.
Team News
Real’s coach Zinedine Zidane is the latest victim of said international break with three of his key players suffering injury with their respective national teams. Midfielders Luka Modric and Toni Kroos as well as forward Gareth Bale suffered knocks and while both midfielders are doubtful to play, the Welshman appears to have recovered.
Consequently, Isco and James Rodriguez are favored to play. Meanwhile, Vinicius Jr. may see good playing time should Bale not feature the ninety minutes or at all. Due to injury, Isco has only started once this season and the Spanish star will be eager to regain his place in his coach’s favorite eleven once again.
Meanwhile, Moreno is missing three players to injury. Namely, midfielders Juan Hernandez and Aleksandar Sedlar as well as left back Baba Rahman. Although their Spanish teammate Antonio Raillo is fully fit again and set to take his place in the center of defense. Madrid loanee Takefusa Kubo is available and may feature as a substitution.
Predicted Lineups
Mallorca XI: Reina; Sastre, Valjent, Raillo, Ganez; Febas, Baba, Sevilla; Junior, Rodriguez, Budimir
Real Madrid XI: Courtois; Carvajal, Varane, Ramos, Marcelo; Casemiro, Valverde; Bale, Isco, Hazard; Benzema
Mallorca vs Real Madrid Preview
While Mallorca accomplished an impressive 2-0 victory in their last match against Espanyol, it has been a rough return to the Spanish top flight. Expect the trials to continue for the home side on Saturday.
Although Madrid may be slightly out of whack due to the international break, team captain Sergio Ramos and his back line should be able to resist their hosts attacking front. Currently third worse in the league.
Likewise, joint league top scorer Karim Benzema and co are likely to find the back of the net against what is also currently the league’s third worse defense.
Mallorca 0 – 3 Real Madrid
Written by Chris Cartwright
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