You can look at this match in two ways. On the one hand, Real Madrid simply played averagely and did not create enough chances. On the other hand, the hosts rose to the heights and presented themselves brilliantly in front of their home crowd. They played with dedication, great commitment, they were carried by the fans. And they caused a surprise, because that is how you have to describe the tie with the winner of the Champions League and the winner of the European Super Cup a few days ago.
Mallorca set the bar high. Sunday’s match was very energetic, charged with emotions from the very beginning.
The hosts – to put it colloquially – settled on the favored Real Madrid from the very first minutes, but there was a lack of specifics on their part. The “Royal” were a different story – they started sluggishly, but very quickly their superiority over the opponent began to become apparent. It didn’t take long for the first goal to be scored. In the 13th minute, Rodrygo had some fun in the penalty area and beat Dominik Greif with a beautiful shot near the post.
Real had the advantage, they attacked much more often on the left side, where at times all three offensive players gathered. Kylian Mbappe was close to scoring, but he only shot into the side netting after a pass from Vinicius. We also saw a very brave attempt by Antonio Rudiger from over 30 meters (the ball flew just past the post). The “Royal” had control, but clearly lacked a second goal that would calm the game down.
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Because Mallorca didn’t intend to give up. Thibaut Courtois didn’t have much work, but he had to stay focused. The hosts attacked both on the left and right wing, we saw a lot of crosses from the side sectors of the pitch. It got heated a few times in the penalty area, but in the end we didn’t count too many shots that could have really surprised Courtois.
That changed in the second half. It’s hard to imagine that anyone at Real thought that 1:0 would be enough to win. It quickly turned out that it wasn’t, and in the 53rd minute the hosts equalized – Dani Rodriguez precisely crossed from a corner kick, and Vedat Muriqi beat Courtois with a header from a few meters.
Later, the hosts had at least two more excellent opportunities, but Antonio Sanchez did not give a good change. That is, he showed himself to play, he was there when the ball fell, but he was the one who made a mistake when he could have given the team from Mallorca a sensational victory.
The “Royal” had a few chances, but we won’t say they were 100%. Mbappe came close at least twice, and once Rodrygo was close to scoring a second time, but Mallorca defended with great dedication and ultimately didn’t concede a second goal.
RCD Mallorca – Real Madrid 1:1 (0:1)
0:1 Rodrygo 13′
1:1 Vedat Muriqi 53′
Compositions:
Mallorca: Dominik Greif – Pablo Maffeo, Martin Valjent, Antonio Raillo, Johan Mojica – Serdi Darder (72′ Manu Morlanes), Omar Mascarell (90+3′ Jose Copete), Samu Costa – Takuma Asano (72′ Cyle Larin), Vedat Muriqi, Dani Rodriguez (67′ Antonio Sanchez).
Real: Thibaut Courtois – Dani Carvajal (87′ Lucas Vazquez), Eder Militao, Antonio Ruediger, Ferland Mendy – Fede Valverde, Aurelien Tchouameni (63′ Luka Modrić), Jude Bellingham (88′ Arda Guler) – Rodrygo, Kylian Mbappe, Vinicius Junior (88′ Brahim Diaz).
Yellow card: Maffeo (Mallorca).
Red card: Mendy 90+7′ (Real, for a brutal foul).
Judge: Cesar Soto Degree.
