Real Madrid, isolated leader of LaLiga, won with a tight score the complicated Mallorca for the 31st round and came closer to the title.
With a goal from French midfielder Aurélien Tchouaméni at the beginning of the second half (48′), the giant from the Spanish capital achieved a victory that maintained an 8-point advantage over its closest pursuer, eternal rival Barcelona.
“It’s a very important victory, which brings us closer to winning the title. We’re on a good run and now we have to think about Wednesday”, declared coach Carlo Ancelotti.
The Italian coach opted to rotate against Mallorca, who have not yet guaranteed their place and are still recovering from the painful defeat on penalties, a week ago, in the Copa del Rey final, against Athletic Bilbao.
When the match started, Carvajal, Kroos, Camavinga, Rodrygo and Vinicius were on the bench, five starters from the first leg of the Champions League at the Santiago Bernabéu against Manchester City, which ended in a 3-3 draw.
This did not prevent the ‘Madridista’ team from dominating the game, under the leadership of Luka Modric, albeit in a sterile manner.
Mallorca themselves were the first to worry Ukrainian goalkeeper Lunin, who saved Antonio Raíllo’s header over the line. But soon after, Englishman Jude Bellingham hit the crossbar with his shot from outside the box (33′).
It was then Tchouaméni who opened the scoring shortly after the break. The Frenchman’s shot hit a Mallorca player, diverting its trajectory just enough so that the local goalkeeper, Serbian Predrag Rajkovic, could only see the ball enter the net with his eyes (47′).
Real Madrid would waste more opportunities (with Valverde, Vinícius…) and this almost cost them two points if it weren’t for Lunin’s excellent save from a Darder shot in the final moments.
A simple 1-0 victory like the one achieved this Saturday on the Mediterranean island would allow the Merengue team to qualify for the Champions League semi-finals, in the complicated visit to Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City’s Etihad Stadium, next Wednesday. fair.
Source: Gazetaesportiva
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