Immersed in the nine decisive days of the course, Real Madrid did what they needed in Mallorca, a mixture of saving their legs for the second leg of Wednesday’s quarterfinal against Manchester City and maintaining the advantage they had in the League with the Barcelona, which visits the Bernabéu on Sunday. He achieved it in a control match in which he always gave the feeling of having something more if necessary, a duel that Brahim tried to decipher with his dribble and that was resolved with a whiplash by Tchouameni, the only one who will not be able to play at the Etihad. Although he trembled at the last moment, when Lunin missed an aerial ball that was aimed at Muriqi (another), and that the Kosovar sent out just before the referee’s last whistle.
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Predrag Rajkovic, Raíllo, Nastasic, Giovanni González, Lato, Pablo Maffeo (Radonjic, min. 78), Antonio Sánchez (Abdón Prats, min. 58), Samuel Costa (Darder, min. 59), Dani (Cyle Larin, min. 86), Manu Morlanes (Omar Mascarell, min. 59) and Muriqi
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Andriy Lunin, Nacho, Rüdiger, Lucas Vázquez (Eder Militao, min. 89), Ferland Mendy, Brahim Diaz (Vinicius Junior, min. 63), Aurelien Tchouameni, Federico Valverde, Modric (Dani Carvajal, min. 86), Jude Bellingham (Camavinga, min. 63) and Joselu
Goals 0-1 min. 48: Aurelien Tchouameni.
Referee José María Sánchez Martínez
Yellow cards Raíllo (min. 16), Muriqi (min. 81) and Andriy Lunin (min. 84)
Mallorca also came from a date that pushed them to the limit, the Copa del Rey final that they lost on penalties against Athletic. He still had wounds to digest, such as the reparation in the 9th minute to Abdón Prats from a stand populated with 5,000 masks with the face of the local striker who was left without a minute in La Cartuja. After that, Aguirre refreshed the team with five changes.
Like Ancelotti, who, with his sights set on Manchester, initially left Vinicius, Rodrygo, Kroos, Camavinga and Carvajal on the bench. He didn’t take any risks from the start with Militão, whom he took another sip, five minutes from the end. After almost eight months unemployed, Rüdiger’s partner was once again Nacho, under suspicion this year, but necessary on Wednesday. In Mallorca he did not chirp alongside the German, the undisputed leader of the defense.
With this landscape, the display did not have the harshness of Real’s last time in Mallorca, when the locals accumulated 29 fouls, 10 of them against Vinicius, in one of the Brazilian’s most stressful afternoons. The vermillions, more contemplative, stayed at 18. Madrid did not show the agitation of Tuesday either. The afternoon required another type of function. Without its two Brazilian forwards, it is a much narrower team, with the flanks mutilated for a day. Not even to look for Joselu’s head with a center.
Command was exercised through the center by Modric and, above all, Bellingham. Through that channel the English appeared to turn and open a path in the framework of Mallorca. And there was also the magic of Brahim, the footballer who most disconcerted Aguirre’s team, brilliant at dribbling and with determination always on fire, although when he found himself with a ball to push it alone against Rajkovic, he made a little mess and He ended up bumping into her. But the man from Malaga carried the focus of the team in a more misty and low-revving initial phase.
The ball belonged to Real and Mallorca relied on their control of the skies, with the reference of Muriqi, watched by the warrior Rüdiger. Aguirre’s battalion looked for a direct route in the brief moments in which they rescued the ball. The powerful presence of the Kosovo striker promises to transform meteorites into moments of danger. While Madrid played and explored the center, Mallorca had the best chance from a corner that Raíllo headed in. Lunin took her out with a swipe of good reflexes. Bellingham immediately responded with a shot against the crossbar.
The Englishman was placed on the launching ramp by Tchouameni in the first play in which he unscrewed from the pivot. The Frenchman, who returned to the center of the field after playing as a center back against City, accumulated a good collection of captured balls and became free as the minutes passed. Until in the second act, when Madrid raised the revolutions, he let off steam with a whiplash that ended up in the net after touching Morlanes.
The landscape had changed. Rajkovic began to see himself in a downpour. The Serbian goalkeeper solved the rest of his task and launched Mallorca’s most dangerous attack: a long ball that ended in a cross that Abdón finished off Nacho’s body.
Madrid was moving at another pace and Vinicius was still missing to dismantle what was left of the rival. In his first three minutes on the field, he escaped to the baseline and shot three times. He was fresh out of the box and the defenders had accumulated 70 minutes. He seemed to fly. It was unattainable. One of his escapes left the ball to Valverde, who missed the second goal despite having the goalkeeper on the ground. The goal seemed inevitable, but the match ended with an aerial blow for Madrid. Lunin jumped into a desperate cross with Muriqi, the ball slipped and the striker missed the opportunity. Madrid completed the task it needed on the verge of two decisive nights.
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