Manzano is working a treat

The 18 teams involved in this weekend's Primera Liga matches either hope to close the gap on Barcelona or pull away from bottom of the table Xerez.

Valencia's Juan Manuel Mata, centre, is tackled by Mallorca's Ivan Ramis, right, at the Mestalla.

The 18 teams involved in this weekend's Primera Liga matches either hope to close the gap on Barcelona, who have played a game more, or pull away from bottom of the table Xerez. Barca and Xerez played ahead of schedule two weeks ago as Barca had prior commitments in Abu Dhabi. The Catalans' victory contributed to the small but significant psychological advantage of a five-point lead over their nearest challengers Real Madrid.

Manuel Pellegrini's side aimed to reduce that to two points during Saturday's late home game against a troubled Zaragoza side, who dismissed their coach last week and are facing calls from disillusioned fans for their entire board of directors to stand down. Real Mallorca have been one of the surprise teams so far this season. The Islanders have risen to fifth place, largely on the back of a 100 per cent home record in their seven games at Son Moix this term. The 23,000 capacity stadium, built for the World Student games in 2000, is unpopular rather than intimidating. Open on three of the four sides, a running track distances fans from the pitch, dissipating the atmosphere. Despite their good form, attendances have been disappointing, rising from just 10,000 on the opening day to a season high of 12,800 - by far the lowest average in the league.

Critics point out that their seven home wins have all been against weaker sides, with Xerez, Tenerife, Valladolid, Getafe, Racing Santander, Almeria and Zaragoza all being defeated in Palma. Yet the confidence garnered from those victories appears to have spread to their travels. While their three defeats so far have all been away at Barca, Sevilla and Sporting, Mallorca recorded their first away win of the season last week at Osasuna. Not only that, Chori Castro's goal which earned the win was Spain's goal of the week.

Mallorca are devoid of any big names, but coach Gregorio Manzano is back for a second spell at the club he managed with great success in 2002-03 when they beat Real Madrid 5-1 in the Bernabeu and won the Copa del Rey. Manzano was then tempted away to Atletico Madrid, but after stints at other clubs, ended up back at Mallorca, where he has fashioned a fit side who have scored more goals in the last five minutes than any other team. If games were judged on what happened in the second half, Mallorca would be second in the table behind Barcelona. If they were judged solely on the first they would be 15th.

Manzano does not have a striker at Mallorca like Samuel Eto'o as he did last time round, but his biggest asset is the Basque forward and seven-goal top scorer Aritz Aduriz. Mallorca play away again today at a Malaga side marooned in 19th place, having won just one game all season - and that was on the opening day in August. Manzano's last job before he took the Mallorca post in 2006 was at Malaga and one of his most important players this season has been the Malaga-born Josemi.

"I know my old team despera-tely need the three points, but we expect to win in Malaga and if we don't then we won't be very happy over the two-week break," said the 30-year-old defender, once of Liverpool. Mallorca have 27 points so far and a win would see them establish a club record for this stage of the season. Manzano has been at the club for almost four years, an astounding feat considering the relatively brief longevity of coaches in Spain and the boardroom turbulence at Mallorca. A new owner took over the club last month and signalled his intention for stability and progression, a positive outlook after last year when the British businessman Paul Davidson was involved in a botched takeover which never happened.

Malaga will not be relishing the return of Manzano or Josemi and will hope their form and luck will both turn. [e-mail] Malaga v Mallorca, KO 8pm, Aljazeera Sport + 4