Real Madrid 2-1 Mallorca: agonizing 'merengue' victory to postpone Barça's title

Real Madrid postponed FC Barcelona's coronation in LaLiga with an agonizing victory over Mallorca (2-1). The 'merengue' team came from behind to, at the last minute, come back with a goal from the youth player Jacobo Ramón in the last minute of added time.

The 'culés', however, are still one win or two draws away in their next three matches (Espanyol, Villarreal and Athletic) to win the title, their number 28 in history.

Carlo Ancelotti's team arrived against the ropes to the match, forced to win to avoid Barça's title and with a total of 12 casualties, 10 of them due to injury. The drama was unleashed after the last-minute absences of Andriy Lunin and Brahim Díaz, which forced the coach to call up 8 players from the reserve team.

Faced with the possibility of losing the match due to improper lineup in case of fielding more than five players without a first team registration, 'Carletto' only reserved goalkeeper Fran González and the eternal substitute Jesús Vallejo on the bench as possible emergency solutions.

A great goal by Valjent put Mallorca ahead

Martin Valjent, in the action of the 0-1 favorable to Mallorca

Just like in the match of matchday 33 against Barça, the goalkeeper Leo Román was a figure from the beginning. The Spaniard won a one-on-one against Endrick before the 3rd minute, after deflecting with a great save a good shot from the Brazilian, who had surpassed Copete in speed.

Madrid started the match with more intensity than usual, constantly looking for Kylian Mbappé and Endrick. Without Vinicius Jr. or Rodrygo available, Jude Bellingham advanced meters, settling as a midfielder. 

However, the visitors struck first with an unexpected hero: Martin Valjent. The Slovakian central defender found a gap on the left and, after a pass filtered by Antonio Sánchez behind Fran García, the defender took a crossed shot with his left foot, impossible for Courtois.

The 0-1 was a bucket of cold water for Carlo Ancelotti's team, now forced not only to win, but also to come back to avoid Barça's coronation. In 12 minutes, the Balearic Islands team unleashed the first whistles from the fans at the Santiago Bernabéu.

Leo Román did it again: 5 key saves in the first half

Despite the early advantage, Jagoba Arrasate's team practically retreated after the goal. Mbappé, in the 18th minute, once again tested Leo Román's reflexes with a characteristic shot with a spin from the left side of the area.

The Mallorca goalkeeper, as the minutes passed, magnified his figure with another three great saves to Bellingham, Luka Modric and Fede Valverde. The best of the 5 interventions of the Spaniard was against a shot from the front of the area of the Croatian.

The '13' stretched to the maximum to deflect, with his left hand, a shot that was already looking to sneak into the net next to the base of the post. The first half ended up being a white monologue, with only one caution for Antonio Sánchez for a mistimed tackle on Dani Ceballos.

Kylian Mbappé equalized the match with his 28th goal in LaLiga

After the break, the dynamics of the match were identical. Total Madrid dominance, but without aim in the rival area and with a predictable game, abusing crosses from the side.

Arrasate tweaked his XI with the entry of Dani Rodríguez and Omar Mascarell, while Ancelotti put Vallejo in place of Asencio after the hour mark. Finally, in the 68th minute, the equalizer would arrive in the boots of Kylian Mbappé.

The Frenchman received a pass from Modric and, despite being surrounded by several rivals, was able to settle towards his left foot to take a very powerful shot, impossible for Leo Román.

For 'Kiki', it was his 28th goal of the season, which extends his lead in the scoring table over Robert Lewandowski (25). The advantage could have lasted little for the 'blancos', if it wasn't for Courtois' intervention.

Jacobo Ramón avoided Barça's consecration in added time

A mistake by Jacobo Ramón left Mateu Morey one-on-one against the Belgian, but the goalkeeper narrowed quickly to contain the shot of the Balearic full-back. Ancelotti put the youth player Gonzalo García for Endrick and, in the final quarter of an hour, the 'merengue' siege was absolute, but Leo Román was inspired.

The '13' contained two clear arrivals from Arda Güler and another pair of distant shots from Valverde. In his only mistake of the match, the goalkeeper failed to clear with his fist a ball from below, but Valjent, on the goal line, cleared with his head Mbappé's shot into an empty goal.

After shooting 39 times (13 on goal) and wasting 27 corners in favor, the 'blancos' reached the victory in the last breath. In the 90+5, a header to the area by Vallejo allowed Jacobo Ramón to appear as a '9' at the penalty spot, shooting Leo Román with a first-class definition.

At the beginning of the play there could have been an offside, but the VAR validated the goal. With this, Madrid is again approaching 4 points from Barça, which only needs one victory or two draws to reach its 28th League title.

Match data sheet: Real Madrid 2-1 Mallorca

• Real Madrid, 2: Courtois; Valverde, Asencio (Vallejo, min. 64), Jacobo Ramón Fran García; Modric, Ceballos, Güler; Bellingham, Mbappé and Endrick Gonzalo, min. 75).
• Mallorca, 1: Leo Román; Morey (Mojica, min. 78), Valjent, Raíllo, Copete, Lato (Maffeo, min. 78); Samú Costa, Darder (Doménech, min. 84), Antonio Sánchez (Mascarell, min. 60); Muriqi and Larin (Rodríguez, min. 60).
• Goals: 0-1, Martin Valjent (min. 12); 1-1, Kylian Mbappé (min. 68); 2-1, Jacobo Ramón (min. 90+5).
• Referee: Javier Alberola Rojas. For Mallorca, he cautioned Antonio Sánchez in the first half. In the second half, he warned Samuel Costa and Pablo Maffeo.
• Stadium: Santiago Bernabéu (Madrid).
• Incidents: match corresponding to matchday 36 of LaLiga EA Sports 2024/25.