Madrid: Real Madrid defeated Real Mallorca 2-1 in La Liga on Wednesday to postpone Barcelona’s championship celebrations.
Los Blancos cut the gap for the Catalan Giants by four points before visiting neighbor Espanyol on Thursday, where they can end the championship with a victory.
Most of the matches were lagging behind after Martin Valjent’s 11th minute opener, with two second-half goals ensuring their Arch-Rivals have yet to win their 28th La Liga title.
Madrid needs to win to deny the equalizers of Barcelona and Kelian Mbappe, and Jacobo Ramon’s 95th minute strike allowed them to do that.
Los Blancos left the Catalan on the brink of the title by defeating Barcelona in Clasico on Sunday, but Carlo Ancelotti’s side showed fighting spirit in the final stages against Mallorca.
“The team performed very well, fought very well, performed very well, and it was a totally deserved victory,” Ancelotti said.
“We’re happy because we want to sort out the whole season and the game hasn’t started well, but after that we’ve done a great job in all senses.”
Madrid coach Ancelotti will be in charge of the Brazilian national team at the end of the disappointing season in the Spanish capital, with two games left in his position.
The Italian side of Madrid is full of injury problems, without Vinicius Junior, while Rodrygo stands out among other star names as Mallorca visited Santiago Bernabeu.
“It’s very strange to have 12 players injured, and we were able to overcome absenteeism with a good attitude and with a group alone,” Ancelotti added.
Since 2004, the Islander ninth place hopes to win European football for the first time and perform well.
Madrid’s 18-year-old striker Endrick may call on Brazil in the future, but Leo Roman works hard.
Mallorca took the lead when he caught the ball on the right side of the box.
The defender fired early and defeated Belgian goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois for his 200th La Liga appearance.
Roman won a good preservation to thwart England International Jude Bellingham.
The plug also performed well for Mallorca in a recent narrow failure in Barcelona, denied Mbappe before the break, followed by Fede Valverde.
Eventually, Mbappe discovered Madrid’s breakthrough after 68 minutes and made some excellent footwork to escape the three Mallorca players trying to shut him down before he crossed the Romans.
This is Mbappe’s 40th goal of his productive season at an individual level, although his team will end the game without a major trophy and have been beaten by Barcelona four times in all matches.
Mateu Morey should have put Mallorca immediately ahead after Jacobo’s turnover, but Courtois denied him one-on-one.
Roman got another beautiful save from Arda Guler’s drive, and Valjent then led Mbappe’s efforts and took the goalkeeper’s position as a safe.
Although Madrid’s efforts seem to have found no winner, 20-year-old defender Jacobo hesitated and they raised a concealment goal on Roma’s head.
Barcelona scored 40 shots in a 1-0 victory over Mallorca in April, with Madrid hitting 39.
“Leo Roman’s game is great,” his figure said.
“(Jacob) was very confident and he scored in the end… It was very good for the Youth Academy, with a lot of kids trying to pass.
“When they have to be there, they are, our Madrid fans have to be proud of this academy.”
