After the distraction of the Europa League in midweek, Villarreal return to domestic action against Mallorca on Saturday afternoon. Both teams are exceeding expectations towards their performance in La Liga at present, though it will be the Yellow Submarine who start this match as firm favourites to claim three points.
In midweek they made the trip to Club Brugge and picked up a useful 2-1 victory, fielding a relatively strong side given that qualification was already assured. Giuseppe Rossi levelled the score for the visiting side after Dorge Kouemaha had given the Belgians the advantage, and the Italian international soon put his side ahead from the penalty spot.
“We may have already qualified, but it was a confidence boost to win. We were the first Spanish team to qualify for the knockout stage, and this is an accomplishment,” Juan Carlos Garrido explained to the media after the match.
Rossi echoed his coach’s comments about a boost to the self-belief of the side, but he was keen to stress that they wish to stay on their present path. “I'm happy for the goals, but we have to continue like this because we haven't achieved anything for now,” he explained.
Winning every game is clearly an important objective for Villarreal at present, and with that in mind they’ll certain go after their guests at the weekend with some gusto.
Two Slips
Mallorca coach Michael Laudrup has been trying to temper enthusiasm over the club’s strong start to the campaign with reality, but there has been little better medicine to do that than the two defeats els Barralets have suffered over the last fortnight.
There was genuine optimism over the side’s chances when they went to Getafe a fortnight ago, but they were forced to retreat from the capital in an embarrassed state, having been convincingly defeated 3-0. Last weekend the Islanders suffered another poor reverse, this time going down 1-0 at home against Racing Santander.
The Iberostar Estadi has been something of a stronghold for Mallorca over the course of the last 18 months, but now that their aura of invincibility at that venue is fading, they are at least going relatively well on their travels. Wins over Sevilla and Valencia have caught the eye, but it is arguably a draw against Barcelona at Camp Nou that represents their greatest triumph this season.
Villarreal are one of the few sides in Spain who can argue that their home is even more intimidating than Barca’s. Since Juan Carlos Garrido took charge of the Yellow Submarine, they’ve only failed to win at El Madrigal on two occasions in league play, going down against la Blaugrana last term and drawing against Valencia this.
Els Barralets will have to be at their absolute peak to take anything from this encounter.
TEAM NEWS
Villarreal
Carlos Marchena is suspended, though a hamstring injury will see him out for a month. Mateo Musacchio has had a yellow card quashed and will be able to play after putting off a suspension.
Mallorca
Azoye and Sergio Tejera are both missing from Brian Laudrup’s squad due to injury complaints. The Dane has no other worries, aside from Gonzalo Castro, who didn’t finish Thursday’s training session.
Prediction
Form dictates that Villarreal have to be considered favourites for this match. Even though Mallorca have undoubtedly improved on their travels, they don’t have the ability to live with a Villarreal side who are simply a winning machine when playing in front of their own fans.
Villarreal 2-1 Mallorca 
