Caparrós in unsuccessful return to Bilbao

It was very much a game of two halves as Real Mallorca fell to a 2-0 defeat to Athletic Club in the Copa del Rey Quarter Final first leg. Goals either side of half time from Fernando Llorente and Iker Muniain give the Basques a cushioned advantage to travel to Palma with.

La Copa saw the return of Mallorca Head Coach Joaquín Caparrós to San Mamés after leaving the Basque club in the summer. He returned to a club who sit 5th in La Liga under new coach, the eccentric Marcelo Bielsa. It didn’t start well for Bielsa. It took Athletic Club seven jornadas to pick up their first win – scraping a 2-1 victory at struggling Real Sociedad – collecting only two points from a possible eighteen. But their fortunes have since turned around including a comprehensive victory 3-0 over Atlético Madrid and a 2-2 draw with Barcelona.

‘One must concentrate on his own team,’ declared Caparrós before the game. And that he did, after naming a full strength squad. The only changes to the starting XI from what would be expected of a full strength XI was Juan Calatayud’s return to goal and José Nunes chosen ahead of Chico in central defence. But apart from that, it was a strong lineup from a team looking to build on their impressive performances against Real Sociedad and Real Madrid.

Both teams started well with the home side naturally looking the more comfortable. But that didn’t mean Mallorca didn’t make chances. In fact, they forced Iraizoz into two very good saves to keep the game at 0-0. The second, from a Mallorca counter, saw Pereira steam down the pitch and into the penalty area. His driven shot was met by the strong right hand of Iraizoz who pushed the ball away.

But it was Athletic Club who took the lead when, on 35 minutes, Cáceres was once again too easily beaten down the wing and the cross was met by the head of Fernando Llorente who couldn’t miss from 3 yards.

Both sides made changes at half-time with Iñígo Pérez coming on for Iraola for Athletic Club. Meanwhile, Caparrós opted for a change of formation to 4-2-3-1 bringing on Alfaro for Hemed. It had the opposite effect to what he hoped.

Mallorca started the second half slowly and it took just ten minutes for Athletic Club to score an identical goal to their first. Cáceres didn’t get close to blocking a cross from the Mallorca left again and the smallest man on the pitch, Iker Muniain standing at 5’4″, headed the ball with aplomb to hand his side a two goal advantage.

The goal sucked the energy out of Los Bermellones who struggled to make any chances in the second half. With only one outfield change to the team who worked at 110% for the whole game against Real Madrid looked too exhausted to do anything about the scoreline and were more intent on hanging on.

But they say what goes around, comes around. And that over the course of the season all decision will even themselves out. And it didn’t take long for their offside goal against Real Madrid to be repaid to them. A nice move from the home side saw Iker Muniain put the ball into the back of the net but the linesman flag went up for offside. But he was on. By miles. Another bemusing decision from the match officials. And it was one that keeps Mallorca in this tie by the skin of their teeth.

The return will be played at the Iberostar Estadi in Palma a week from now with kick off at 7pm GMT. Mallorca’s next game though is in Madrid on Sunday against Rayo Vallecano – the game that should’ve opened the season.

Teams

Athletic Club (4-2-3-1): Iraizoz; Iraola (Pérez 45′), Martínez, Amorebieta, Aurtenetxe; Itturaspe, Ander (San José 86′); Susaeta (Toquero 89′), de Marcos, Muniain ; Llorente .
Substitutions: Fernández (gk); Ekiza, José; Pérez, López; Toquero, Gómez.
Goal: Llorente 35′; Muniain 58′.

Real Mallorca (4-4-2): Calatayud; Cendrós , Nunes , Ramis, Cáceres; Pereira , João Victor , Tissone (Martí 56′), Castro (Nsue 66′); Hemed (Alfaro 45′), Víctor.
Subtitutions: Aouate (gk); Martí Crespí; Pina, Martí, Nsue, Alfaro; Ogunjimi.

Referee: José González González (ESP)
Stadium: San Mamés, Bilbao, Basque Country
Attendance: tbc.

Live

FULL TIME: Athletic Club 2-0 Real Mallorca

91 mins: That was the final chance of the game, I think. Bilbao counter and Muniain fires in another strike but it goes over the bar.

89 mins – ATHLETIC CLUB SUBSTITUTION: Toquero is on for Susaeta.

88 mins:Well, well, well… When they say things even themselves out over the season… Athletic Club have a goal disallowed for offside against Muniain. But I tell you what. He was on. By miles.

86 mins – ATHLETIC CLUB SUBSTITUTION: Bielsa tries to run the clock down now with substitutions. San José is on for Ander Herrera.

85 mins: Bilbao come to counter but João Victor cynically blocks off Muniain.

83 mins: Pereira twists and turns in the Bilbao area and fires a shot in but it rebounds off Martínez for a corner. The cross fromm Martí is better but it again comes to nothing.

82 mins: Two more horrendous corners from Martí. Next candidate for the next one?

79 mins: Four corners in the space of a minute for Mallorca. All wasted. The final one was an appalling cross from Martí.

77 mins: A little pull back from Muniain earns himself a yellow card.

76 mins: ‘Mallorca have failed to create anything in this second half. They haven’t looked the same team. They’re hanging on. They’re in danger of being run out of this tie,’ Terry Gibson on Sky Sports.

71 mins: Nsue tracks back well to block a cross down the Mallorca left. Well, if Cáceres isn’t going to do it…

68 mins: Mallorca started the second half very slowly and now look out of energy following Muniain’s goal. There’s no answer right now. Caparrós may have taken a 1-0 loss, but 2-0 will be harder to come back from. Any more and it could just be curtains for Mallorca.

66 mins – REAL MALLORCA SUBSTITUTION: A like-for-like swap as Caparrós makes his final change. Emilio Nsue for Chori Castro. I’m surprised it’s not Pereira, in all honesty…

66 mins: Wasted long range strike from Pereira. He cuts a very frustrated figure.

65 mins: I’ll try to revisit that Pereira yellow card again. The ball was running out of play and a frustrated Pereira makes a sliding challenge on Itturaspe who was blocking him off. Itturaspe does the usual 17 or 18 rolls to earn the Frenchman a yellow card. ‘This has bugged me for 30 years,’ Terry Gibson says on Sky Sports. ‘If a defender can block off an attacker when the ball is going out when it’d be a foul anywhere else on the pitch, then that [the Pereira challenge] is not a foul.’ He later conceded, ‘no, it was a foul’.

58 mins – GOAL FOR ATHLETIC CLUB: It’s an identical goal to the first. Cáceres is once again no way near his man and a cross is dinked to the back post. Muniain, standing at 5’4″, is completely unmarked to head home a surprisingly good goal from someone who you wouldn’t usually expect to head the ball. The home side have a cushion now.

58 mins: Pereira attempts slide tackle Itturaspe as the ball is… oh hang on… goal…

56 mins – REAL MALLORCA SUBSTITUTION: Pep Martí is on for Tissone. That is in doubt reaction to his yellow card. He can’t afford to not put the tackles in tonight. His experience will help too.

55 mins: Good strike from Pérez from the free-kick but Calatayud reads the ball well. Good stop.

54 mins: Muniain storms forward again before being blocked off by José Nunes on the edge of the area. Dangerous position for a free-kick.

52 mins: Ander progresses through the Mallorca half with too much ease before a scramble on the edge of the area. Muniain fires his shot well over the bar. All Athletic Club so far in this second half.

48 mins: Yellow card for Tissone for running into the back of Ander. The free-kick is struck well by substitute Pérez but Calatayud makes a good save.

45 mins: So we’re back underway in San Mamés. Mallorca have 45 minutes to get an away goal.

45 mins – REAL MALLORCA SUBSTITUTION: Caparrós opts for what looks like in a change of formation to 4-2-3-1. Midfielder Alejandro Alfaro is on for striker Tomer Hemed.

45 mins – ATHLETIC CLUB SUBSTITUTION: Pérez is on for Iraola.

1955: Guillem Balague: ‘Mallorca are playing the same way they did against Real. They have Pereira waiting for the ball. Hemed waiting for the ball. Castro waiting for the ball. And when they get it, they counter attack with menace.’

1952: Sky Sports pundit and former Real Madrid defender Michel Salgado has commented about the goal. ‘The mistake the defenders made, as Sam Allardyce would say, is ball watching, ball watching, ball watching.’

HALF-TIME: Athletic Club 1-0 Real Mallorca
Athletic Club go in at half-time 1-0 up against Caparrós Mallorca after a Fernando Llorente header gave them the lead. It doesn’t tell the full story, however, with both sides having good chances in a mostly even affair. Mallorca have played well but are struggling to reach the levels they did at the weekend. Caparrós will be content, but he will also be well aware that in this mostly even game, it is his former club who look are demonstrating a sharper cutting edge.

44 mins: And there is the customary yellow card for Pau Cendrós for persistent fouling.

43 mins: Good link up play between Chori Castro and Víctor sends in a good cross that Pereira is unlucky not to reach.

42 mins: Very odd decision given by the linesman for a free-kick to Athletic Club. Apparently Iván Ramis’ feet were too high against Ander Herrera. Amorebieta gets on the end of the cross but couldn’t direct it on target.

39 mins: Pereira is unhappy. Attempts to cross the ball which goes straight out, over the bar. He wants a corner. It did look as if it took a deflection, but the referee says goal kick.

35 mins – ATHLETIC CLUB GOAL: And it’s first blood to the home side. Cáceres can’t get close enough to de Marcos down the right flank who whips in a good cross for Fernando Llorente to easily head home from 3 yards. It is the fourth or fifth time in which Mallorca have failed to stop this supply from the wings and they have now been punished.

31 mins: Swift counter by Mallorca. Pereira steams forward and bursts into the area. He drives it at goal but Iraizoz makes a strong one handed save.

30 mins: Two chances for Ander. The first thanks to good play from Iraola down the right. He pulls it back for the unmarked Ander on the edge of the area but Calatayud makes a comfortable save. The second, he drives it from distance and is only a couple of inches away. Calatayud wouldn’t have got there. It was mostly even this game, but Bilbao are starting to turn the screw.

28 mins: Víctor tries to skip through the Bilbao defence and has a slight pull back on the defender. Foul given.

25 mins: Halfway through the first half. It’s been mostly Athletic Club for this half, and they have gone mightily close on a couple of occasions.

08 mins: Yellow card for Fernando Llorente who jumped for a high ball with Iván Ramis and accidentally cracked the defender in the face with his elbow. A bloody nose for Ramis.

06 mins: Oh, Mallorca nearly take the lead! Chori Castro with a deflected stike on the edge of the area nearly catches Iraizoz out but the ‘keeper makes a good save.

03 mins: Comfortable start by Athletic Club as Mallorca are happy to soak the pressure up.

00 mins: We’re underway in San Mamés.

Preview

The Copa del Rey Quarter Finals sees the return of Mallorca Head Coach Joaquín Caparrós to San Mamés after leaving the Basque club in the summer. He returns to a club who sit 5th in La Liga under new coach, the eccentric Marcelo Bielsa.

It didn’t start well for Bielsa. It took Athletic Club seven jornadas to pick up their first win – scraping a 2-1 victory at struggling Real Sociedad – collecting only two points from a possible eighteen. But there fortunes have since turned around including a comprehensive victory 3-0 over Atlético Madrid and a 2-2 draw with Barcelona.

‘One must concentrate on his own team,’ declared Caparrós before the game. And that he has done, after naming a full strength squad. The only changes to the starting XI from what would be expected of a full strength XI is Juan Calatayud’s return to goal and José Nunes will partner Iván Ramis in central defence ahead of Chico. But apart from that, it’s a strong lineup from a team looking to build on impressive performances against Real Sociedad and Real Madrid.

These two sides have met once already this season. A solid Mallorca saw out an entertaining 1-1 draw with Athletic Club back in December at the Iberostar Estadi. The game saw a deluge of yellow cards, eleven in all, produced by referee Muñiz Fernández. Hopefully that will not be reproduced by González González.