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News

WED 19.05.2021 | News

RCD Mallorca celebrate promotion

The team managed by Luis Garcia Plaza have managed to reclaim a place in Spanish football's top flight after spending a single season in LaLiga SmartBank.

News

WED 19.05.2021

Los Bermellones have put together a three-game unbeaten run, making for a total of 22 wins over the course of the season so far, along with nine draws.

Their defeat to Rayo Vallecano on the opening matchday was followed by a run of 17 games unbeaten. Luis Garcia's men have had a fantastic campaign, and are the third highest scoring side in LaLiga SmartBank with a total of 49. At the same time, they are the team who have conceded the fewest goals, just 25, level with RCD Espanyol.

The latter has been one of the keys to Garcia's success. Their opponents have found them hard to break down and their defensive solidity has been one of their most notable qualities. The Madrid-born coach habitually opts for a 4-2-3-1, with two defensive midfielders pivotal to their play and highly focussed on providing a shield for the back line.

At the start of the season, Garcia returned to LaLiga SmartBank intent on replicating his previous campaign in the competition and ending it by going up. The Madrilenian has not managed a second-tier side since the 2009/10 season, when he was in charge of Levante UD and achieved a historic promotion to LaLiga Santander. Now he has done it again with RCD Mallorca, making it two promotions in his last two seasons in LaLiga SmartBank.

A year on, Los Bermellones return to LaLiga Santander, in which they have played 37 seasons over the course of the club's history. They managed their best finish in the competition in the 1998/99 and 2000/01 seasons, when they finished third in the table.

Standout players

Keeping guard between Mallorca's posts is Manolo Reina, one of the star performers this term and one of the main reasons that the team can boast have conceded the fewest goals in the division. He is also one of the LaLiga SmartBank players who have racked up the most minutes this season and the first name on the gaffer's team sheet, proving irreplaceable for the outfit from Balearic Islands.

At the back, Los Bermellones have a several players who have erected a veritable fortress, successfully preventing their opponents from pushing forward and getting in on Reina's goal. The standout players in defence and those who have accumulated the most game time have been Martin Valjent, Joan Sastre, Brian Olivan and Antonio Raillo. Raillo is Mallorca's best ball-winner, closely followed by Sastre, and is also second in the ranking of the team's best passers of the ball. Sastre, with three assists to his name, is the third most prolific player in the team when it comes to playing in a teammate to score. Franco Russo is the man who Luis Garcia Plaza has turned to most often to come on as a substitute or to complement the defensive work of the previous four.

RCD Mallorca's centre of the park is populated by great playmakers, goalscorers and ball-winners. The key players in midfield this season have been Salva Sevilla, Amath Ndiaye, Daniel Jose Rodriguez, Antonio Sanchez and Braian Cufre. Rodriguez has unleashed the most shots and is the team's top provider, with four assists. He has also scored seven of the goals netted by Garcia's men this season. Sevilla shares the top spot in the assists table with Rodriguez and is the third highest scorer, with seven goals and four assists. He is also the Mallorca player with the most successfully completed passes.

Abdon Prats, Jordi Mboula and Lago Junior make up the front three most frequently fielded by the Madrilenian manager. Abdon, with nine goals, is the team's top scorer and among the top 10 in LaLiga SmartBank. He has made three assists and been involved in 25% of his side's goals so far. Meanwhile, Lago Junior is Mallorca's fifth highest scorer and Mboula is the third best provider with three assists, level with Sastre, Abdon, Lago Jr. and Ruiz de Galarreta.

A return to LaLiga Santander is the reward for all of the tireless work put in this season, producing consistent results and many matchdays at the top of the table.

Luis Garcia's management has resulted in the team who call the Visit Mallorca Estadi home securing promotion on Matchday 40 of the competition and with games to spare. Fans of the Balearic club can now celebrate their team's superb season, the goals they have cheered from their living rooms and the sublime saves by the magnificent Manolo Reina. The squad have been at the top of their game and together with the manager, with his clear plan and characteristic style of play, they have achieved their mission and can now call themselves a Spanish top-flight club again.

Congratulations RCD Mallorca!

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