The Mallorca fairytale faces a big test
Mallorca aren’t usually in the hunt for European places in La Liga, as they are traditionally a smaller club that spends its time trying to play spoiler to the likes of Real Madrid and Barcelona, bouncing in between the first and second divisions.
Already, Mallorca made an impression on an international scale this season by nicking a point off Real Madrid on Matchday 1, spoiling Kylian Mbappe’s long-awaited debut in the process.
In addition to the draw with the reigning champions of Spain and Europe, Mallorca own quality wins over usual European hopefuls Real Betis and Real Sociedad. So after 10 Matchdays in La Liga, Mallorca sit sixth in the table with 17 points, tied on points with Athletic Club in fifth.
This coming Monday, Mallorca will close an action-packed week in La Liga with a battle against Athletic Club, and it will be another big test for the islanders to prove their mettle as a legitimate threat to qualify for Europe.
Mallorca have a fearsome defense and one of the most experienced star midfielders in La Liga in Sergi Darder. Their attack may not stand out on paper, but striker Vedat Muriqi once scored 15 goals two seasons ago when they finished in the top half of the table against the odds.
With Jagoba Arrasate leading the way as one of the most highly regarded coaches in Spanish football, Mallorca can make some noise. But they do not have the same level of talent as Athletic Club, Real Betis, or the others within their range in the table.
Monday’s match is an opportunity for Mallorca to make a statement at home, which has traditionally been their strongest venue but has been the location of their lone two losses of the 2024/25 league season.
Atletico Madrid’s second-best player after Antoine Griezmann
Everyone knows that Antoine Griezmann is the best player in La Liga, and there’s a case to be made that he’s the best player in the league outside of the superstars of Real Madrid.
Griezmann isn’t the only top-class player for Los Rojiiblancos, of course, and the club made a major splash this past summer, surprising everyone when they decided to spend 75 million euros on Manchester City star Julian Alvarez.
So far, Alvarez has scored three goals, but it’s too soon to say if the deal has made dividends for Atletico. After all, they are in third and seem no closer to competing with Real Madrid and Barcelona for the league title this season with Alvarez, who is a rotational player.
If you ask me, Atleti’s second-best player after Griezmann isn’t another attacker like Alvarez or big striker Alexander Sorloth, but rather a more defensive player in workhorse right back and midfielder Marcos Llorente.
He hasn’t been as frequently discussed in the media as he was a few years ago when Atletico Madrid last won the league title, but he’s rebounding quite nicely after a rather disappointing 2023/24 campaign.
Llorente has scored two goals and is averaging a key pass per game while averaging an impressive two tackles per match defensively, showing the all-around impact and work rate that initially made him one of La Liga’s best when he made the jump from Real Madrid to Atleti.
A dedicated professional who was an 8 by trade, Llorente has become a bigger asset at right back for Atletico Madrid, producing his best performances for the club when starting at that position.
At right back, Llorente is able to put his athletic traits, intensity, progression on the ball, and ball-winning to best use. He is a pure workhorse athlete, and between him and Conor Gallagher, Atleti have two guys who can put in the work of four players.
Effort and intensity mean more to Diego Simeone than talent alone, which Joao Felix is the negative attestation of that point, and Llorente provides both in droves to such an extent that, right now, he is Atletis’s second most impressive player after the timeless Griezmann.
Real Madrid have a hidden advantage on Barcelona
As much as I love delving into the other clubs around La Liga, the whole world has their eyes closely peeled on Saturday’s El Clasico, especially with how exciting Real Madrid and Barcelona have both looked this season.
Real Madrid turned in another vintage Champions League performance on Tuesday night at the Santiago Bernabeu, overcoming a shock 2-0 deficit to the admittedly underwhelming Dortmund side they conquered in last season’s Final.
It was Vinicius Junior who led the way again, scoring a hat trick to help lift Real Madrid to an epic 5-2 comeback victory, just days after he scored the winner in another gritty La Liga battle.
Meanwhile, Barcelona haven’t been winning ugly at all in 2024/25, in stark contrast to the last time they won the league. Barcelona have been the most exciting team on the planet, bar none, overshadowing Kylian Mbappe’s and Endrick’s moves to Madrid, even without the services of their big summer signing, Dani Olmo, for much of the campaign thus far due to injury.
Raphinha has been outshining Real’s wingers this season, Robert Lewandowski is scoring all the goals Mbappe isn’t, and Pedri is making quite a few Madridistas serve crow with his continued excellence in midfield.
Barcelona have unearthed some more gems for the future, too, with new manager Hansi Flick backing the youth much more strongly than Xavi. Flick has completely transformed Barca as a team, to the point where they are the leaders in La Liga and they were the ones to humiliate Bayern Munich 4-1 on a Champions League night by mastering the counterattack.
And I say all this to set up the fact that it is Barcelona, not Real Madrid, who are the favorites to win El Clasico despite Madrid having won both Clasicos last season as runaway champions of Spain.
That sets up Real Madrid as the underdogs on Saturday, and for as much as everything about this club is against being the underdogs, this is exactly when Real thrive the most.
Think about it. How many times were Real Madrid counted out in the 2021/22 Champions League season against Manchester City, Chelsea, and even PSG and Liverpool? How many times were they written off as “rebuilding” or more “lucky” than good?
Even this season, we saw Real Madrid come from behind against Dortmund, producing their best football at the Bernabeu with their backs against the wall. The slow-starters have been even slower-starters in 2024/25, yet they have also been irresistible late in games.
Real Madrid coming into El Clasico with a target on their backs, a chip on their shoulders, doubt placed at Mbappe, injuries to Thibaut Courtois and Rodrygo Goes, and a high-flying and risk-taking Barcelona at the Bernabeu may be exactly the ingredients Los Merengues need to produce their best game of the season.
These are the matches every single player who dreams of donning the Real Madrid kit also dreams of standing out in, stepping up their game to heights they didn’t know before. And yes, I am looking directly at Mbappe and Endrick here.
Real Madrid are not the logical pick to win El Clasico right now, because anyone who has watched La Liga this season will tell you that Barcelona have clearly been the better and more complete side with, quite honestly, significantly superior coaching.
But when you look at the pure talent level of this squad, Real Madrid should be the best in Europe. They should be the ones cooking their opponents like Barca. And with that feeling of the world being against them in their biggest game of the season, these intangibles may be the final flare of flame on the pan that gets Real Madrid to truly sizzle this season.
The managing editor of The Trivela Effect, Kevin has 15 years of experience in digital media. He covered Real Madrid from 2019-2022 for The Real Champs as a site manager. His work has been featured in ESPN, Bleacher Report, Yahoo! Sports, NBC Sports, and other major outlets. You can contact him at the site’s official Twitter handle @TrivelaEffect or via the site’s official email thetrivelaeffect@gmail.com.