Mallorca vs Atletico Madrid

Estadi Mallorca Son Moix is the venue as Mallorca and Atletico Madrid go head-to-head in a high-stakes La Liga showdown. 

Javier Aguirre’s second season in charge of Mallorca hasn’t gone to plan, casting doubt on the Argentine’s bid to extend his expiring contract at the end of 2023/24. Last weekend’s 1-1 draw against fellow underachievers Cadiz left his side only six points clear of the bottom three. But even though they come into proceedings as underdogs, Mallorca can draw confidence from beating Atletico Madrid 1-0 in their last two league meetings on home turf. Los Piratas were on the receiving end of that same scoreline in the reverse fixture, highlighting the significance of scoring first. However, they’re no strangers to upsetting the odds at home, having defeated Girona and held Barcelona and Athletic Bilbao to draws during the season, suggesting Atletico can’t rest easy.

The visitors are on the verge of securing a 12th consecutive appearance in the Champions League group stages after extending their lead on fifth-placed Athletic Bilbao to six points with a 3-1 home win in direct clash last weekend. Manager Diego Simeone received the expected defensive reaction from his side in that match-up following a dreadful 2-0 defeat at Deportivo Alaves on their last La Liga travel. However, Atletico’s wait for a clean sheet now stands at 14 competitive matches. That’s ominous, considering they’ve only won once away from home since late January (D2, L6), failing to get on the scoresheet on five occasions. On that basis, a third consecutive scoring blank on Mallorca’s home ground is a distinct possibility.