Can Mallorca shock all-conquering Madrid at the Bernabeu?

Joaquin Caparros must be frustrated. Having won five out of the last six games, he would be forgiven for thinking that his Mallorca side had performed well enough to deserve a European spot. Unfortunately, this is far from being the case.

Els Barralets are currently in sixth place but their position is far from secure – tenth-placed Sevilla are just three points behind them.

Good job then that they travel to the Bernabeu, where local parish team Real haven’t lost since early December.

To compound Caparros’ misery, he will have to do without injured striker Emilio Nsue and his team is priced at 10/1 to snatch an unlikely win, whilst the Galacticos are a shoe-in at 9/50.

Whilst Madrid have frequently allowed the opposition to strike the first blow, they’ve generally been able to make them pay for it.

All things considered, however, Real seem to be taking things a tad easy lately – despite aiming to reach a landmark total of 100 points, Jose Mourinho has still been fielding the likes of Raphael Varane and Nuri Sahin – two promising players who’ve barely had a look-in throughout the season.

Though a Mallorca win may be a tad unlikely, a draw is hardly a ridiculous proposition, and is interestingly priced at 13/2. The visitors do, in their defence, (almost) have previous here against Madrid, having held them until the 85th minute in their home game, before Jose Callejon grabbed the 2-1 winner five minutes from time.

For a league in which most clubs have become used to being thrashed both home and away by the top two, this is an impressive result.

With Madrid recently scraping by Granada by the skin of their teeth having gone one behind, it may therefore be a clever idea to back Mallorca to charge into the fray from the off, hoping to steal a defensible lead. Consequently, their odds of opening the scoring in the first half are pretty juicy at 15/4.

And Caparros still has some firepower available to him, with Victor Casadesus and Israeli import Tomer Hemed firing on all cylinders of late.

Then again, whilst Madrid have frequently allowed the opposition to strike the first blow, they’ve generally been able to make them pay for it – making multiple correct score odds of 11/4 on a 2:1, 3:1 or 4:1 home win pretty tempting. Better still, what about chancing a hand at the odds of Mallorca taking the lead then losing, quoted at 21/4?

Recommended Bet: Malaga to open the scoring in the first half @15/4

Outside bet: Madrid to win after going behind @ 21/4

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