When an international break is announced in football I’m always looking for something to do at the weekends. With Real Mallorca not playing, me and the boys decided to go and watch Atlético Baleares play Real Madrid Castilla. They are doing very well in their league having only lost 1 game and we were looking forward to seeing what young players Real Madrid had.
I bought the tickets online for only 15€ and I was impressed with the website, in English and easy to navigate. They said the tickets would be emailed to me which was fine. Only they didn’t get emailed to me. I rang the club three times and each time they told me not to worry as there was a glitch in the system and they were sorting it. Worse case they said I could pick them up from the office at their other stadium which is by IKEA. I left it to Saturday morning as Jude had a game near there but when I got to their office it was closed saying they only open Monday to Friday. This I thought was strange as surely I wasn’t the only one with the problem? I tweeted them in Spanish but didn’t get a reply so decided to turn up on Sunday with the print out from my credit card statement.
Estadio Balear where they now play let’s say is working progress. The main stand on the playing side is finished but behind it still needs some work. The other three sides are completely open with lots of building work going on. So you walk into what is pretty much a building site but that’s not really a problem. We found the ticket office and they gave me my tickets so no drama. They have built a temporary stand behind the goal which is where we were. Real Madrid Castilla are managed by one of their former legendary players Raul. He spent the lion’s share of his career playing for Real Madrid and is the club’s second all-time top goalscorer with 323 goals in the 741 appearances. He is also the most capped player in the history of the club.
His supremacy can be estimated by the fact that he was recognised as the symbol of Real Madrid. Raúl won 6 La Liga titles, 3 UEFA Champions League titles, 4 Supercopa de Espana, 1 UEFA Super Cup and 2 International Cups. In 2003, he was appointed captain of the team and retained that position until his departure from the club in 2010.
The club are basically Real Madrid’s reserve team but in reality they are all youngsters trying to break into the first team squad. With Baleares top of the league we were looking forward to a good game as it seemed were the other 3,300 fans which as far as I’m aware was their biggest crowd of the season. Unfortunately it was a little disappointing with neither team playing that well and it ended 1-1.
It was good to have a look at Reading loanee Jordan Holsgrove who’s following the trend of young UK footballers coming abroad to play. He’s a Scottish U-21 international midfielder who looks to have settled into the team. Not sure how good his Spanish is but I’m going to try and interview him soon to find out more.
Baleares are away this weekend to Getafe B.
Real Mallorca having had a weekend off were back in action last night against Levante and despite playing probably their best away game so far this season they still lost 2-1. So that’s 6 away games in La Liga without a win and they’ve now not won away since April. Next Saturday they’re at home to Real Betis.
Last weekend saw a record crowd for a Women’s game in the UK as Tottenham hosted Arsenal in the North London derby. 38,262 turned up which surpassed the 31,213 that watched the Manchester derby at Etihad Stadium in September and was more than seven times higher than the record of 5,265 which stood prior to this season. A bit of a way to go to beat the Spanish women’s league, where 60,739 turned out to see Athletico Madrid v Barcelona earlier this year. Good to see after the success of the World Cup.
I’ve been lucky enough to meet 3 of the 12 Celebs in I’m a Celebrity get me out of here. Jacqueline Jossa and Andy Whyment have been to Pirates and I was lucky enough to meet Ian Wright at an Arsenal game. He obviously would be my pick to win and also my boys who have a personally signed shirt hanging in their bedroom.
I think you’d have got very long odds on Mauricio Pochettino being sacked after taking Spurs to the Champions League Final just 6 months ago. But it happened and Jose Mourinho is now in charge. As a bit of disillusioned Arsenal fan right now I’d have Pochettino tomorrow if we could.
Now his departure from Tottenham on Tuesday may have seemed a shock, but evidence suggests it was inevitable.
The Argentinian’s sacking merely means that the Ajax Curse has now run its full effect, now accounting for six managers in less than a year.
Every club the Dutch side faced in reaching the Champions League semi-final last season has now replaced their coach.
Group stage opponents AEK Athens, Benfica and Bayern Munich all have new men in charge, while knock-out rivals Real Madrid, Juventus and eventual conquerors Tottenham are all now under new stewardship. It’s a funny old game.
Good wins for my two last week Jude winning 7-0 and Jake winning 8-0. No game for Jude this week but Jakes team play the top of the league. Es Raval of Santa Catalina have played 8 games and won 8, they’ve scored 88 goals and conceded just 2! So are we in for a gubbing? Well as I said above strange things happen in football and I for one have every confidence in the boys who themselves are in a good run of form.
Dad Taxi on half wages this week.
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.com on 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!
Follow him on Twitter @DadTaxi1 & Instagram @dad.taxi or feel free to email him at rprior@globobalear.com
Dad Taxi Mallorca 