The lowdown on RCD Mallorca
FC Barcelona entertain RCD Mallorca this Sunday at 9.00pm CEST, so here’s the lowdown on the visiting club.
WHERE ARE THEY FROM?
The Mediterranean island of Mallorca, visited by some 28 million mainly sun-seeking tourists every year, needs little introduction. The football club are based in the capital, Palma de Mallorca, with its wonderful cathedral and old town.
HISTORY
Founded in 1916, the first of many first division appearances for RCD Mallorca came in 1960, but they would not be a regular feature until they spent 16 seasons among the elite from 1997 to 2013, including their proudest hour of all, winning the Copa del Rey in 2003, with two goals in the final against Huelva scored by a man who would later be a legend at Barça, Samuel Eto’o.
In 2017, they dropped down to the third tier Division 2B, but the recovery has been spectacular. Two years later and they were back with the big boys, and although they were immediately relegated they bounced straight back up last season.
HEAD TO HEAD
Back in the 1999-2000 season, Mallorca beat Barça both home and away, but in 28 league meetings since then, Barça have only lost to the islanders three times (and twice at home), although all of those were late season encounters without too much left to play for.
After four straight Barça wins scoring at least four goals every time, in the reverse fixture on January 2 of this year, a Luuk de Jong goal secured a narrow 1-0 win for the Catalans.
The most famous meeting between the teams was the 1998 Copa del Rey Final, which Barça won on penalties, the fatal Mallorca kick being missed by a former Barça player, Xabier Eskurza.
02/01/22 Mallorca 0-1 Barça
13/06/20 Mallorca 0-4 Barça
07/12/19 Barça 5-2 Mallorca
06/04/13 Barça 5-0 Mallorca
11/11/12 Mallorca 2-4 Barça
24/03/12 Mallorca 0-2 Barça
FORM GUIDE
After a promising start, Mallorca looked safe enough in mid-table at Christmastime, but then things started to go horribly wrong. They lost 11 out of 13 games, and eventually dropped as low as the relegation zone.
Wins in their last two home fixtures, against Atlético Madrid and Alavés, have helped nudge them two points clear of the drop zone, but they are far from safe and have some tricky fixtures to close out their season.
They did, however, put together a nice little cup run, eventually going out to Rayo Vallecano in the quarter finals.
THE PLAYERS
Most capped internationals
Takefusa Kubo (Japan, 13), Martin Valjent (Slovakia, 9), Lee Kang-in (S Korea, 6), Matthew Hoppe (USA, 6), Lago Junior (Ivory Coast, 5), Iddrisu Baba (Ghana, 5), Dominik Greif (Slovakia, 4), Amath Ndiaye (Senegal, 4), Rodrigo Battaglia (Argentina, 2), Aleksandar Sedlar (Serbia, 2)
Barça connections
Left back Brian Oliván (PHOTO BELOW) was raised at FC Barcelona, but never played for the club at senior level. After moving between clubs and even countries he finally made his big break at Cádiz and joined Mallorca in 2020.
Central midfielder Iñigo Ruiz de Galarreta was originally a product of the Athletic academy but played one season, 2017-18, for Barça B.
Winger Takefusa Kubo spent four seasons at La Masia, but eventually returned to his home country to play for FC Tokyo. Real Madrid brought him back to Spain in 2019, from whom he is currently on loan to Mallorca.
Top scorers 2021/22
Salva Sevilla (4), Verdat Murigi (4), Dani Rodriguez (3)
THE BOSS
The club parted ways with Luis García in March and brought in Javier Aguirre as a replacement. The Mexican, who played 59 times for his country, is one of the most respected coaches in world football, having managed the national teams of Mexico, Egypt and Japan, as well as various Spanish clubs, best known for guiding Osasuna to a fourth place finish in La Liga and for his three seasons in charge of Atlético Madrid.