Real Madrid crashed to their first defeat in a month in dramatic fashion as they were beaten by relegation-battling Real Mallorca on Saturday afternoon. Manuel Morlanes got free and moved through to score before half-time and give the home side the lead. Substitute Éder Militão headed in an equaliser on 88 minutes, but it was Mallorca who got an injury-time winner as Vedat Muriqi found himself free at the far post and smashed his effort into the roof of the net past a helpless Andriy Lunin.
Three answers
1. How
much focus would be on Bayern Munich?
With a clash with the German champions kicking off 75 hours after the final whistle here, Álvaro Arbeloa had some tough calls to make. The decision to rest Vinícius Júnior, who had been in the United States with Brazil on international duty, and not gamble on the fitness of Jude Bellingham, tied in with that. Intriguingly, Arbeloa also opted not to feature Thiago Pitarch, instead giving minutes to Manuel Ángel, making his first start for the first team. However, the result meant that the rotations were short-lived, with Bellingham, Vinícius and Thiago all needed off the bench, and the ones coming off to be those who were struggling, the likes of Ángel, Brahim Díaz, or a once again disappointing Eduardo Camavinga, rather than some of those who Arbeloa may have wanted to give some rest, like Mbappé, who played his first 90 minutes since February 21st.
2. How many players would we see up their returns from injury?
The only players close to a comeback not included in the matchday squad were Ferland Mendy and Dani Ceballos, with even Éder Militão included for the first time in four months. Kylian Mbappé started for France and was in line to continue building up his fitness, while there were question marks surrounding Jude Bellingham, who was deemed fit enough to travel to join the England squad, but then did not feature for a single minute. Mbappé was selected to start, though his impact was barely felt. He registered six shots and 0.55 xG, his most in a single game without scoring since the December defeat to Celta Vigo under Xabi Alonso. Bellingham and Militão were both given minutes off the bench to build their fitness with 30 minutes each, the Brazilian scoring and looking strong defensively.
3. Would Mallorca again prove a tricky place for Real Madrid to visit?
Of the six times Real Madrid have visited since Mallorca were promoted back to the top flight in 2019, only two have ended in victory for Real Madrid, only one of them by more than a single goal margin. There have been two 1-0 wins for Mallorca, in addition to a 1-1 draw early on last season, and now a 2-1 result for the home sides. The likes of Mallorca captain Antonio Raíllo, absent through injury on Saturday, and Pablo Maffeo have developed reputations as knowing how to get to Vinícius Júnior, but Martín Demichelis’ side were defensively resolute and made life difficult for a Real Madrid side that never got out of second gear. Mallorca are fighting for their lives, this win taking them out of the relegation zone, and it showed that they were the side who wanted to win more as they fought every loose ball.
Three questions
1. Is there still a title race?
With only eight games left to go, the gap at the top of La Liga could open up to seven points if Barcelona beat a weakened Atlético Madrid side on Saturday night. The two teams still have to face each other on May 10th, but if the gap remains at seven points, it could mean that Barcelona seal the title if they beat Real Madrid in that match at Camp Nou. That would be a disastrous image for the club to end a season filled with disappointment. In many ways, this was Real Madrid’s worst defeat of the season in the league. The four previous defeats all came against sides currently in the top half (Atlético, Celta Vigo, Getafe and Osasuna), whereas Mallorca find themselves battling for survival at the wrong end of the table. Dropping points here, even if it has happened in previous seasons, is what could cost Real Madrid the title.
2. What does this mean for Álvaro Arbeloa?
With defeat here, Arbeloa became the first Real Madrid coach to make it to 18 games having lost five of them without being fired. His post-match statements, this time taking “1,000%” of the blame for the loss, echoed his previous ones after the four previous defeats. In truth, his future likely doesn’t depend all that much on the league, given that a title charge on Barcelona was never all that probable, but keeping the fight up to the end does matter. Defeats like this one, once again falling to a side who are some levels below Real Madrid, damages the club’s reputation and Arbeloa’s as a result. All that this result means is that there is now even more pressure on him and his team to make it past Bayern Munich and try to progress as far as possible in the Champions League. Unless there are no other candidates for the role, it seems increasingly likely that Arbeloa’s stint will only be a short one and Florentino Pérez will look for replacements this summer. Beating Bayern Munich may be the only way to persuade Pérez to wait before making even more calls.
3. Should there be concern about Franco Mastantuono?
It may only have been a 15 minute cameo off the bench, but the form of Franco Mastantuono continues to concern. He can’t be held responsible for the result here, but this was his fifth consecutive appearance getting only a handful of minutes off the bench and raising more questions than answers. The Argentine hasn’t started a game since February 1st, and hasn’t played a full 90 minutes since November 1st. He lost all three duels he was involved in, conceded two fouls, lost possession once and recorded only one shot on goal, which was blocked at close range. Only recently back from suspension after being sent off for dissent against Getafe, he now faces another ban after getting his fifth yellow card of the season, and will miss the tie against Girona on Friday night, when he may have hoped to compete for minutes given the rotations likely between Champions League legs. Without minutes, he may need to look at Endrick for an example of how to resurrect his time at the club.
