The Mallorca vs Barcelona match in La Liga later today is supposed to send Barca further in their race for the league title, but for Mallorca’s coach Michael Laudrup, it is nothing less than a wearisome test.
Los Bermellones held the defending Spanish champions to a 1-1 draw in the first half of the ongoing season at the Camp Nou. Yet, an excessive amount of efforts from the visitors caused them to suffer a defeat at home to Espanyol in their following encounter, making them realize how much it took to prevent the Catalans from triumphing.
At this point in time, Mallorca occupy the 11th position in the Spanish League table with 31 points—8 points above the relegation zone. Coach Laudrup has not ruled out all of his side’s chances of succeeding against Barcelona at the Iberostar Estadi; yet, he confessed that getting the right result without losing their physical strength in their following challenge will simply be a miracle.
“I don’t want my words to get misinterpreted, but I don’t like this kind of games,” he said. “Firstly, I don’t like the quality of our rivals (Barcelona), and secondly I don’t like the consequences they bring to most teams after the game.
“After our 3 games against the top two, we’ve gone on to lose the next fixtures. Such a fixture has so much impact that you forget what’s round the corner.”
The Mallorca boss also predicted success in La Liga for Barcelona again this season, declaring: "I believe they will be champions because they have more points and will be able to slip up several times, unlike (Real) Madrid.
Speaking to Sport, he added that Los Cules’ current performers formed the best Blaugrana side ever in the club’s history: "Pep (Guardiola)'s team is the best one of all. Even without the ball, they pressure all the time and they have (David) Villa, (Lionel) Messi, Pedro, Xavi, (Andres) Iniesta and (Daniel) Alves.”
At this point in time, Mallorca occupy the 11th position in the Spanish League table with 31 points—8 points above the relegation zone. Coach Laudrup has not ruled out all of his side’s chances of succeeding against Barcelona at the Iberostar Estadi; yet, he confessed that getting the right result without losing their physical strength in their following challenge will simply be a miracle.
“I don’t want my words to get misinterpreted, but I don’t like this kind of games,” he said. “Firstly, I don’t like the quality of our rivals (Barcelona), and secondly I don’t like the consequences they bring to most teams after the game.
“After our 3 games against the top two, we’ve gone on to lose the next fixtures. Such a fixture has so much impact that you forget what’s round the corner.”
The Mallorca boss also predicted success in La Liga for Barcelona again this season, declaring: "I believe they will be champions because they have more points and will be able to slip up several times, unlike (Real) Madrid.
Speaking to Sport, he added that Los Cules’ current performers formed the best Blaugrana side ever in the club’s history: "Pep (Guardiola)'s team is the best one of all. Even without the ball, they pressure all the time and they have (David) Villa, (Lionel) Messi, Pedro, Xavi, (Andres) Iniesta and (Daniel) Alves.”
