Real Madrid, still with the hangover from the Champions League, did not forgive in Son Moix and a great second half and the success of the Frenchman Aurélien Tchouaméni were enough to knock down (1-0) a Mallorca still hurt by the penalties that They ruined the dream of winning their second Copa del Rey against Athletic at the Cartuja in Seville.
Son Moix faced the leader of the League with the finalist of the cup tournament. Real Madrid won, but Mallorca had its options until the end. The last of them, a shot by Muriqi on a split ball that the Ukrainian Andry Lunin, one of the great figures of his team on the island, cleared into the corner.
Mallorca was the same as always. At the start of the match, the tremendous frustration of having fallen on penalties in the Copa del Rey final was not noticeable. Furthermore, to forget the sorrows he counted on the tireless encouragement of his audience, which filled the stands.
With his rocky, very physical and high-pressure football, looking for Muriqi’s height with aerial balls, he showed that he is a difficult opponent for the teams that visit him. In Palma, Barça and Athletic tied, and Girona fell in the Copa del Rey.
Ancelotti’s team tried by all means to turn the match on their side in the first half. With Modric pulling the strings in the midfield, Bellighman and Brahim opening holes in the crowded local defense, they managed to contain the vermillions’ momentum.
The pace of the match was slow at the start, with both teams exaggerating precautions to avoid making mistakes. The first to try to break the slow cadence of actions was Brahim with a long slalom of several meters interrupted by the local defense at the entrance of the area.
The first 45 minutes only recorded two scoring chances, the clearest being the ball that Belligham hit the crossbar with Rajkovic completely outmatched (min. 32). Shortly before, Antonio Raillo (min. 30) had headed in from a corner, but Lunin responded with agility to prevent the Vermillions from scoring.
Carlo Ancelotti appealed to rotations and rested key players in his scheme, Dani Carvajal, Eduardo Camavinga, Toni Kroos, Vinícius Junior and Rodrygo Goes, to face the match in Palma. In the second half Carvajal, Vinícius, Camavinga and Brazilian Éder Militao also had minutes.
The challenge of eliminating Manchester City weighed more on the Italian coach’s mind when deciding the lineup. He reserved key players, even at the cost of jeopardizing three points that could decide the League before the next day’s classic against Barcelona. It turned out to be expensive for Ancelotti.
The new additions to the Madrid eleven were Lucas Vázquez, NachoFernández, Luka Modric, Brahim Díaz and Joselu Mato. The Brazilian central defender Éder Militao waited his turn on the bench and the Frenchman Aurélien Tchouaméni, suspended in the Champions League, advanced his position to the center of the field.
Javier Aguirre opted for caution against the championship leader. They drew a 5-4-1 with Vedat Muriqi as the only forward. The Canadian Cyle Larin, who accompanied him in the last Copa del Rey matches, sat on the bench next to the Mallorcan Abdón Prats.
Tchouaméni’s goal opened the scoring in Son Moix as soon as the second half began. The Frenchman’s shot became an impossible parabola for Rajkovic after hitting Morlanes and Sánchez in the attempt to repel the shot.
Mallorca had never been behind on the scoreboard in all the Copa del Rey qualifiers. In the last two La Liga games at home against Granada and Girona, he also kept a clean sheet.
The Madrid advantage forced the vermillions to stretch their lines, a circumstance that coincided with the first substitutions in both teams. Abdón Prats, Sergi Darder and Omar Mascarell entered elMallorca; Vinícius and Camavinga did it at Real Madrid.
The chances continued in both goals in the final stretch. Nastasic saved a close-range shot from Valverde after a play by Vinícius and Lunin showed off again shortly after by deflecting a great shot from Sergi Darder into the corner.
In the end, with Muriqi close to a tie, Madrid was able to celebrate three very important points that left Mallorca on the wire and unable to completely break away from the relegation zone.
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