This weekend Real Mallorca start their La Liga campaign. To think that only 2 years ago they were kicking off in Segunda B against CF Peralada with barely 1,000 people watching and now they are back in the big time. Four players who started that day should be in the starting line up against Eibar this Saturday. Reina, Raillo, Sastre and Lago Junior are the only surviving members from that first game which Mallorca won 1-0. It’s been a fairytale couple of years with back to back promotions and now the serious business starts. What can we expect to happen? The first year has to be about survival. I’d be happy with 17th but I’m sure the aim is to finish higher. Winning your homes games is vitally important as Mallorca showed last season. They won 15 of their 21 games at home only losing 2 and that was their springboard to the play-offs. In contrast they were awful away, winning just 4 games. The jury is also out on the squad who don’t have much La Liga experience but will be living off the spirit and camaraderie built up through last season. They can thank the Manager Vincente Moreno for that, he and his team have done an amazing job and together they delivered his ambition to manage in the big league. To be honest they have a chance to get off to a decent start with back to back home games. This Saturday against Eibar and next Sunday against Real Sociedad. Both had decent seasons last year finishing 9th and 12th respectively. However Eibar only won away twice last season and Sociedad six times so six or even 4 points from those two games would give the club a huge lift.
Kick-off is 8pm at the Son Moix and me and the boys are really looking forward to it. If you’re not able to get to the games there’s good news. ITV have announced they will broadcast three La Liga matches live on ITV4 at the start of the new season. The broadcaster showed live top-flight Spanish matches at the end of last season after previous rights holders Eleven Sports cut short their agreement. They will also show weekly La Liga highlights throughout the season on both ITV and ITV4.
Live coverage began with Barcelona’s trip to Athletic Bilbao last night. A spectacular goal in the last couple of minutes from former Mallorca player Aduriz gave Bilbao a 1-0 victory. Barcelona are very ordinary without Messi and also lost Suarez through injury so not a great start for last year’s Champions.
Barcelona’s first home game against Real Betis on the 25th August will also be shown live, before Real Madrid’s trip to Villarreal is aired on the following weekend. Apparently there are negotiations ongoing between La Liga and ITV for the broadcast of live matches throughout the rest of the season.
My eldest Jake started his pre-season last weekend so Dad Taxi made a return with an early start to be in Binnisalem by 08.30. Its good to get back on the road and watching football again. I love travelling around the island and going to different places, it makes you appreciate what a beautiful island we live on.
I think it’s great to get your kids doing things, not quite sure about this one though? Daniel Rose-Levine, 16, holds the Guinness World Record for solving a Rubik’s cube with, wait for it, his feet! The American teen can do it in 16.9 seconds, or as long as it takes some people to put on shoes and lace them up.
He’d mastered the cube with his hands aged just 11 by studying endless You Tube videos. His best time is just 5.3 seconds, with the current World Record at 3.47 seconds held by Yusheng Du from China.
We’re getting used to hearing stories about younger people growing up and doing things different to how we did. But this one took me by surprise this week.
A Scottish university announced it is shutting its union bar.
Dundee-based Abertay University says student tastes are moving away from drinking and there is no longer enough demand for alcohol.
Income at the bar is said to have ‘dropped drastically’ in recent years as many students now prefer afternoon lunch and coffees to cut-price pints and shots.
It comes as a recent survey by the National Union of Students revealed one in five UK students are teetotal while demand for alcohol-free university events is rising. Times are changing.
This Saturday really is a Super Saturday. My Son plays a friendly Saturday morning, Arsenal play Burnley Saturday lunchtime and Real Mallorca play Saturday evening. The Wife is over the moon as you can imagine, well over the moon that she’s getting rid of us for most of the day.
Enjoy your weekend!
Richie presents the Radio One Mallorca Breakfast show Monday to Friday07.30-11.00am on 93.8fm in Mallorca and 102fm in Calvià, online at www.radioonemallorca.comon mobile through their free App for IPhone & Android, The Tunein Radio App, iTunes, the Spanish TDT TV service and all smart speakers. . If you can’t hear him on the radio then you’ll find him working at Pirates Adventure the islands number one night out and every now and again he may make an understudy appearance!
Feel free to email him at rprior@globobalear.com
Dad Taxi Mallorca 