January 20, 2025. 22:00. Villarreal. “Ceramics Stadium”.
La Liga 2024-25. Day 20
“Villarreal” – “Mallorca”
Suspensions : Ivan Cuellar (“Mallorca”)
Injured: Alfonso Pedraza, Ilyas Ahmash – Manu Morlanes
Doubts: Diego Conde, Ramon Terrats, Nicolas Pepe, Ayoze Perez (all “Villarreal”)
At risk of suspension: Raul Albiol – Samu Costa, Abdón Prats
“Villarreal”
The “Yellow Submarine” will play its second match of the calendar year on January 20. Marcelino Garcia Toral’s side were unexpectedly knocked out of the Copa del Rey earlier in January by lowly Pontevedra, meaning they played their first game back last Monday. The end of last year was not kind to the “amarillos” – they left the Cup and went five games without a victory in the league. During this period, Villarreal shared the points with Osasuna, Girona and Rayo Vallecano, while suffering defeats to Athletic away and Betis at home, having played two-thirds of the latter match in numerical superiority.
-However, the team approached the break with a positive mindset after securing a comeback victory against Leganés. The visitors twice trailed but equalized before half-time, scoring three more goals in the unanswered second half – finishing 5:2 with a hat-trick from Tierno Barri and goals from Gerard Moreno and Pau Cabanes in injury time . But their next match ended in another defeat. Villarreal played quite well against Real Sociedad in San Sebastián, but failed to convert their chances, while the Basques managed to score once early in the second half. So, the “Yellow Submarine” finished the first half of the season in 5th place, but several teams closely follow it, and they find themselves nine points behind Athletic above them.
“Mallorca”
Surprisingly, the team led by Jagoba Arrasate shares the same points total (30) as Villarreal in the league standings after the first half of the season. There were expectations that the Islanders would improve under their new manager, but their results exceeded all expectations. Last year, the Balearic Islands finished strong, securing two consecutive minimum wins in the league, first by beating Girona (2:1) at home and then winning on the road against the usually stubborn Getafe – 1:0. Remarkably, in the match against Girona, Mallorca won by playing with ten men for two thirds of the match after Muriqi was sent off at 1:1. Kyle Larin scored all three goals in these two victories, becoming the Balearic team’s top scorer with five goals so far.
In 2025, Jagoba Arrasate’s team only played two matches, and both ended in disappointment. First, the islanders were unexpectedly eliminated from the Copa del Rey by… Pontevedra. Yes, the same team that beat Villarreal. However, while Villarreal’s defeat was somewhat fortuitous, with Pontevedra scoring a late goal, the Balearics were beaten 3:0 in emphatic fashion. The next match also ended 3:0 – in the semi-final of the Spanish Super Cup, Mallorca faced Real Madrid and held on for a while, as the Madrid team only managed to score their first goal until midway through the second half, while the other two were added during added time when Mallorca’s resistance collapsed. Now, after a long break, Mallorca returns to the field.
“Villarreal” – “Mallorca” : Planned team compositions
Villarreal will be without the injured Alfonso Pedraza and Ilyas Ahomash. In addition, the main goalkeeper of the “amarillos”, Diego Conde, risks missing this match. Ramon Terrats, Nicolas Pepe and Ayoze Perez seem ready to return to the squad, but their participation remains uncertain. As for Mallorca, they will be without their suspended reserve goalkeeper Ivan Cuellar, while their injury concerns are limited to ‘Yellow Submarine’ graduate Manu Morlanes.
“Villarreal” – “Mallorca” : Author’s prediction
At the start of the season, Villarreal triumphed over Mallorca 2:1 away, becoming the first of three teams to beat the islanders on their home field in the first half of the season. In this match, the visitors secured a late winner while enjoying numerical superiority. Nevertheless, in recent years the ‘Yellow Submarine’ have enjoyed considerable success when playing in the Balearic Islands, while at home they have only managed to secure one point from their last two clashes against Mallorca . As for the upcoming clash, Marcelino’s team are considered the favorites, so I’m not going to think too much about the prediction – Villarreal will win.
