Football fans are always treated to a feast of action over the Christmas period when most of the top UK clubs have a series of games. In Europe too, the New Year also sees renewed interest in the game and football fans who travelled to the island of Mallorca during January had a chance to watch some of mainland Europe's top players.

Ask anyone to name a top Spanish football club and FC Barcelona plus Real Madrid and Valencia are likely to be the first clubs that spring to mind. However sitting right on their heels in the Spanish La Liga are Mallorca, currently in fifth place.

Barcelona and Real have a reasonable lead at the moment, but the next five clubs are all within five points of each other and every game is important. That's why Mallorca's two home games during January were crunch fixtures and were exciting affairs.

First off, seventh place Athletic Bilbao came to the island on 3rd January to play the home team at the 10 year old ONO Estadi ground in the suburbs of Palma de Mallorca. The ground accommodates over 23,000 spectators so there is always a good chance of getting a ticket.

Two weeks later the league's sixth place team Deportivo La Coruna visited Mallorca for another vital game. Sandwiched in between those two games the island's team had to visit the mainland to play against the powerful Real Madrid.

It was a great month for football on Mallorca during January, so if your planning a visit to Mallorca it is worth looking ahead to see what exciting events are happening during the time of your visit.