Spanish champions Real Madrid remain five points behind LaLiga leaders Barcelona thanks to a 1-0 defeat in Mallorca on Sunday afternoon.
Referee: Alejandro José Hernández
An own goal from Nacho marked the difference between the teams, with Marco Asensio missing a second-half penalty for Carlo Ancelotti’s men in a frustrating game for the visitors.
The Whites remain with 45 points, five behind leaders Barcelona, who will have the chance to take an eight-point lead in as many games (20) against Sevilla on Sunday night.
Thibaut Courtois was injured during the Real Madrid warm-up, while Eder Militao, Karim Benzema, Eden Hazard, Lucas Vázquez and Ferland Mendy were also absent due to physical problems.
Mallorca took the lead in the 11th minute of the game when Vedat Muriqi’s header stunned Nacho before past Andriy Lunin into the Real Madrid goal.
The visitors had no shot on goal in the first 45 minutes, and the Spanish and European champions entered the break a goal behind.
Ancelotti’s men committed a penalty in the 57th minute when Vinicius Junior was brought down by Predrag Rajkovic, but the Mallorca keeper redeemed himself by denying Asensio’s shot.
Asensio, who was forced to wait more than a minute due to time-wasting tactics, tried to score at the right post, but Rajkovic cleverly saved.
The Real Madrid striker was about to make up for the miss in the 66th minute when he went to the edge of the Majorcan box before trying to finish off the post, but his shot went wide.
Rajkovic denied Vinicius in the 68th minute before Mariano Díaz, David Alaba and Toni Kroos came on with 20 minutes to go as Ancelotti searched for a way to get back into the game.
The visitors’ best chance to equalize came late from Mariano, but the striker headed in Luka Modric’s cross as Mallorca secured an impressive three points in front of their home crowd.
“They scored early and then it was difficult, many fouls, the game was interrupted many times, players fell. But the team played until the end, we deserved the draw, we missed the penalty, we created chances in the smallest spaces, but we played our match,” Ancelotti said.
Possibly those 3 points could prove massive depending on the result between Barcelona and Seville. If the Catalans win, they could be 8 points above Real Madrid in the table.
Real Madrid will now travel to Morocco to play the Club World Cup, with the semi-final against Al Ahly on Wednesday, while Mallorca continues its League against Sevilla next weekend.
Lineups:
Mallorca (5-4-1):
Rajkovic; Gio, Nastasic, Raíllo, Maffeo, Jaume Costa; Baba (Battaglia), Gallarreta (Grenier), Dani Rodríguez (Amath), Kang In Lee (Antonio Sánchez) y Muriqi.
Subs not used: Greif, Román, Augustinsson, Hadžikadunić, Morlanes, Kadewere, Rodríguez, Prats
Real Madrid (4-3-3):
Lunin; Carvajal, Nacho, Rüdiger, Camavinga; Tchouameni (Kroos), Valverde (Modric), Ceballos (Alaba); Asensio (Mariano), Vinicius y Rodrygo.
Subs not used: Courtois, López, Odriozola, Vallejo, Díaz
Scorers:
Yellow Cards:
Match Stats:
