In-form first division side visiting Mallorca
One fourth division team and four third division teams are in the last 32 of the 118th Spanish King’s Cup – the Copa del Rey – and the home of one of these underdogs is also Germany’s favourite destination. The city of Palma de Mallorca is home to Atletico Baleares, who face Celta Vigo. Against the LaLiga club, the home side are, of course, gross underdogs, but the Galicians are well warned.
In the last cup round, the team from the Balearic Islands caused the biggest surprise and was also able to defeat a first division club, Getafe. The underdogs even managed to win by 5:0. Celta Vigo will not take the game on the island lightly. For a repeat of this coup, betting odds of up to 5.75 are offered on Wednesday between Atletico Baleares and Celta Vigo.
While the home side have not played a game since winning the cup in mid-December, the visitors came back from their short winter break last weekend to prolong their strong form. Wednesday’s match at the Estadio Balear kicks off at 8pm.
Baleares – Statistics & current form
Not so long ago, not only quite a few German tourists frolicked in Mallorca, but also footballers. In 2014, the Berlin entrepreneur Ingo Volckmann saved the club from insolvency and from then on there were some (former) stars who pursued their profession on the Balearic Islands and tried to lead the club back into the second division. A goal that has not yet been achieved to this day.
Strong home record in League 3
The German leadership remained, but German players are no longer to be found in the current squad. The club now largely dispenses with legionnaires and relies on home-grown players. All in all, one can definitely speak of a successful season at the moment, as the club is in the promotion race in the third division. In contrast to the competition, there is still one game to be played, and the gap to league leader Albacete is only six points.
Head coach Xavier Calm’s team feels particularly at home in their small home stadium. Until the beginning of December, the Mallorcans were even unbeaten in home matches, before they had to admit defeat to the B team of Sevilla FC with 2:0. The last league match of 2021/22 – against Barcelona’s B team – also ended in defeat. All the more surprising was the brilliant cup victory against Getafe a few days later.
Given the long break – no match played since 16 December – and the fact that the third-division team is certainly not underestimated, betting on the surprise this time in Baleares’ cup match against Celta Vigo does not seem realistic.
Predicted line-up of Baleares:
Ginard – Vilarrasa, Orfilla, Ferrone – Jose Fran, Shashoua, Ros, Cordero, Canario – Dioni, Martinez
Last matches played by Baleares:
Copa del Rey
12/16 2021 – Atletico Baleares 5 – 0 Getafe
Primera Division RFEF – Group 2
12/12 2021 – Barcelona B 3 – 1 Atletico Baleares
12/05 2021 – Atletico Baleares 0 – 2 Sevilla Atletico
Copa del Rey
12/01 2021 – CD Calahorra (4)1 – 1(5) Atletico Baleares
Primera Division RFEF – Group 2
11/28 2021 – Gimnastic 1 – 2 Atletico Baleares
Celta Vigo – Statistics & current form
After Celta Vigo narrowly avoided relegation twice in a row, the Galicians presented themselves much improved last season. As eighth in the table, they even missed qualification for Europe by a hair’s breadth. Although head coach Eduardo Coudet’s team is currently only in twelfth place in the table, 23 points from 19 league games means the same number of points as in the previous season.
Stronger away than at home
It is striking that the Himmelblauen feel more comfortable away than at home in the Balaidos Stadium. On average, only 0.80 points per home game (two wins in ten games) have been scored. Away from home, there have been four wins, three draws and only twice did the team have to return home without any points. This results in 1.67 points per away game, which is more than twice as much as in the home games. Based on these circumstances alone, the forecast for Baleares against Celta Vigo seems promising for the visitors.
In addition, recent results definitely speak in favour of the favourites. At the beginning of the season, Celta Vigo still had some problems and lost four of the first five games, for example. However, the turnaround was successful and in the last eight league games, there was only one defeat to cope with.
The strong form at the end of 2021 was also confirmed in the first league game of 2022. At Betis Sevilla – third in the table at the turn of the year – the Galicians managed a surprising 2-0 away win. Old star Iago Aspas was once again the match-winner with his brace (he now has ten goals in the season).
Predicted line-up of Celta Vigo:
Blanco – Medrano, Fontan, Castro, Carrique – Veiga, Cervi, Beltran – Suarez – Nolito, Mina
Last matches played by Celta Vigo:
LaLiga
01/02 2022 – Real Betis 0 – 2 Celta Vigo
12/17 2021 – Celta Vigo 3 – 1 Espanyol
Copa del Rey
12/14 2021 – FC Andorra 1 – 2 Celta Vigo
LaLiga
12/10 2021 – Mallorca 0 – 0 Celta Vigo
12/05 2021 – Celta Vigo 1 – 2 Valencia
Baleares – Celta Vigo Direct comparison / H2H balance
In fact, the two teams have faced each other before – but none of the four previous duels are likely to be remembered. In the 1961/62 and 1962/63 seasons, both teams were represented in the second division, with the Galicians winning three of the four matches. However, these games are not at all relevant for Wednesday’s cup match.
Baleares – Celta Vigo tip
The visitors from Galicia are warned ahead of the trip to Mallorca and will by no means take the game lightly. On the one hand, Celta Vigo only managed to beat FC Andorra (who are one place above Atletico Baleares) in extra time in the last cup round, and on the other hand, the underdog’s 5-0 win over Getafe left a powerful impression. There will be rotation, but only on a small scale. With the necessary attitude and without arrogance, the forecast on the visitors is very promising between Baleares and Celta Vigo.
The difference in quality is by no means to be dismissed. In addition, the visitors are in very strong form, were able to convince even after a two-week break, while the home side has not played a competitive match for almost three weeks. All in all, there are many arguments that give the visitors the advantage. Due to the lack of competitive experience of the hosts, not only the away win is targeted, but for Atletico Baleares against Celta Vigo, the betting recommendation at attractive odds is half-time/final score 2/2 with five units bet.
