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Real Mallorca - Back in the big time

After successive promotions the team has an uphill battle ahead

Celebrity Football Roundup with Alex Fitzpatrick

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La Liga 2019-20 is moving towards its dramatic close and has not been short on entertainment, shock and suspense.

SPRING HAS SPRUNG

March has arrived and the big question is, do you have a “Spring” in your step? After a successful January of detoxing and training, I have to admit February didn’t go quite as planned, so like everyone, I looked for inspiration and I didn’t need to look far. Stephanie Day is like a breath of spring air, fresh and bursting with positivity and that’s coming from me!

TITLE CONTENDERS After almost half a season of the big two being neck and neck but both unable to pull away from their closest rivals, the title race has finally settled down with the El Classico rivals showing their quality. However, despite their pre-season woes, it has been Real Madrid who have looked every bit the team to beat with Los Cules, Barcelona, playing catch up as the season has gone on. Even with the majestic Messi, Barcelona have struggled to put together a strong run of form, mostly due to their wavering results away from fortress Camp Nou. With Los Blancos, marshalled by Sergio Ramos in defence, looking able to secure and grind out results even when not playing well, they look to be the hot tips for the title. Barcelona have taken drastic action due to the style of coach Ernesto Valverde, ditching him in favour of Quique Setien. The former Real Betis coach is renowned for his free-flowing, attacking football and Barcelona fans will hope he can be a throwback to good times under Pep Guardiola and bring Barcelona the title.

DIEGO’S EMPIRE CLOSE TO DESTRUCTION Diego ‘Cholo’ Simeone, long-time manager of Atletico Madrid has had a troubled season. Having previously won the La Liga title and turned Atleti into the third

powerhouse of modern Spanish football, Cholo lost talisman Antoine Greizmann to Barcelona in the summer. What was originally labelled as a ‘transition season’ has turned into a nightmare for the Argentine and his side. The year that Atleti drop their standard has coincided with a raft of clubs raising their level and narrowing the gap between midtable and the European spots to such an extent that Atleti are in real trouble of not qualifying even for the Champions League, let alone the Europa league next season. A strong finish to the season will be required if Cholo is to continue his reign. Getafe, Real Sociedad, Sevilla, Athletic Club, Valencia and Villarreal are all queueing up to take advantage of any slip by Atleti and push them out of the European spots. SWIMMING AGAINST THE TIDE At the wrong end of La Liga, a fierce battle to beat the drop is developing. Rock bottom at Christmas, Espanyol are onto their third manager but seem to have finally found the formula with former Barcelona player Abelardo. Of course they also found their chequebook, spending 40 million euros on signings in the winter transfer window. 20 of those were on one man, centre forward Raul De Tomas, who has fired the goals in and helped them to pull away from the drop zone. In fact every club in danger at the bottom spent big in the January sales, all other than Real Mallorca who shopped in the bargain basement for loan signings. With livelihoods on the line, you can bet that the excitement will continue deep into the season to decide the three sides to drop out of the top league. REAL MALLORCA Mallorca’s first half of the season was more dream than disaster but still left much room for improvement. Sadly where there was no room in the squad after the summer, recruitment had left it bloated and unfit for purpose. This meant that when the winter window came, CEO Maheta Molango had some serious wheeler-dealing to do. Shipping out some of the dead wood and replacing them with diamonds in the rough. The challenge proved too much and within two weeks of the window slamming shut, Molango was on his way out of the club. Too little too late for manager Vicente Moreno, the Valencian will now be unable to add to his squad and must play the hand he has been dealt. Before the season began, successive promotions meant that survival would have been a minor miracle and the chances were slim. At this stage of the season the chances are looking slimmer than ever but what you can be sure of with this manager and his squad is that they will keep working until the death to secure survival.

Micro-needling, technically known as “Dermapen”, is also available which stimulates the production of collagen resulting in plumper and smoother looking skin. Needless to say, I am being signed up for it now, in fact, with the powers of publication, I may very well be having the treatment as you read this! Steph has a genuine interest in diet and nutrition and is a firm believer that you are what you eat. She also enjoys creating her own recipes and sharing them on @ foreverflawlessmallorca.

“Steph”, as she is lovingly known, doesn’t just lead by example - she lives it. What began as a challenging journey to lose weight turned into a passion and now this Crossfit-loving queen has a successful beauty and health business here in the Balearics, “Forever Flawless Mallorca”. Steph is an oracle of knowledge, not just for fitness, health and nutrition but also specialises in skin, make-up, well-being and positive mindset, I just about managed to scrape the surface of all Forever Flawless Mallorca has to offer.

I tried the non-invasive physical exfoliation beauty treatment called “Dermaplanning” during which any accumulated dead skin cells and vellus hair (or “face fluff”) are removed, I was confused, as clearly I didn’t have any! It sounded excruciating, but it was heaven. At the end of the treatment, my complexion was glowing like never before which led me to believe there may have been a few peachy hairs after all!

Whether you are looking for a oneoff treatment, motivation or a total transformation program, I really can recommend Stephanie. When you meet her you will instantly see why she has a company called Forever Flawless.

So, lift up that smoothie and cheers to being the best version of you! Ayesha xx