La Liga Highlights Mallorca 1-0 Real Madrid
- Asensio missed Real Madrid’s best chance to score
- Another defeat for Los Blancos this season
- The gap is now 8 points clear behind Barcelona
La Liga Highlights Mallorca 1-0 Real Madrid on Asensio’s disappointed return as Los Blancos suffered from another defeat this season 2022-23.
It could not be any worse for Real Madrid in a day that saw them defeat by Nacho’s own goal and Asensio’s failure on the spot-kick.
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Highlights
Carlo Ancelotti’s side had 1D and 1L in the past five league games in prior to the trip to Mallorca Son Moix Stadium, and they knew they had to improve. There was sign of things going wrong when Thibaut Courtois got injured during warm-up, resulted in Andriy Lunin replacing Real #1.
13 minutes in, Los Blancos feel behind when captain Nacho deflected Vedat Muqiri’s header beyond Andriy Lunin
The scrappy first half saw the Madrid club failed to register a single shot on target, despite almost total control of the rest of first half.
Among the best ‘chances’ created were Madrid’s Fede Valverde and Antonio Rudiger’s long-range efforts that were wide.
Ancelotti introduced Luka Modric and Toni Kroos in a bid to improve the performance and it was much better with a wonderful opportunity on the hour mark with a penalty granted.
VAR ruled Rajkovic had fouled Vinicius Junior and the keeper was set to face Mallorca’s old boy Asensio.
Then, the goalkeeper redeemed himself by guessing correctly to brilliantly deny the Spanish midfielder to ruin his comeback in style.
Asensio’s penalty was Madrid actually only shot on target throughout the game, as it could be any clearer to see how they have been struggling to score for the second time in three games with Benzema’s absence.
Real Madrid current situation after the defeat
The result meant that Madrid missed the chance to close the gap on LaLiga leaders Barcelona ahead of their fixture against Sevilla later on Sunday.
Beating the Seville club will hand Blaugrana the chance to move eight points clear.
Meanwhile, Mallorca now got their impressive run of home wins after dealing a huge blow to the champions’ title defence.
Despite enjoying almost three-quarters of the possession, Madrid failed to convert any of their 20 shots on goal and could trail Barcelona by eight points by the end of Sunday.
As for Mallorca, their impressive home form continues after a memorable win, which ended a run of four successive defeats in this fixture.
The champions thus failed to register a shot on target during the first half – doing so in a LaLiga match for the first time since September 2021 (against Villarreal).
Vinicius fails to inspire
Vinicius Jr was the biggest hope but the Brazilian failed to continue his streak of goals involvement (scored three, assisted one) in his four previous La Liga clashes against Mallorca.
In fact, Vini only passed 13 times – the lowest recorded by any Madrid starter during the game, while having no shot on goal.
Although, Vinicius was the man to mark for Mallorca’s players as he was fouled 10 times — the most any Madrid player has suffered in a LaLiga match since Isco against Real Betis in August 2013 (also 10).
What’s next?
February will be not so easy for Ancelott’s side, with their next La Liga game will be at home against Elche, only to see another trip far from home at Osasuna before eventually return to Bernabeu for El Derbi.
Author Details
TOM is a dedicated soccer writer whose words come alive on the page, mirroring the electric energy of the pitch. With a keen eye for detail and an unbridled love for the sport
