Real Madrid came from behind to beat a stubborn Real Mallorca 2-1 in front of 72,700 fans on Saturday night in the Santiago Bernabeu, despite the home side having three goals ruled out by VAR, two for marginal offsides and one for hand ball.
As expected, Real Madrid dominated early proceedings but Mallorca took the lead after just 18 minutes. They won a corner down the left and the resultant kick from Pablo Torre saw Vedat Muriqi silence the Bernabeu faithful with what looked like one of his trademark bullet headers, but in fact replays showed the ball went in off his shoulder.
There is a saying in Spanish footballing lore that woe betide any La Liga side that should score the first goal in the Bernabeu. How true was that, as Madrid went up the other end and scored two within a minute. Somehow Mallorca managed to retain their composure and held out until half time.
The pace dropped in the second half, with Mallorca having two great chances to cause a major upset. Firstly, after great work from Sergi Darder, Mateu Joseph had his effort blocked. Then in the 63rd minute Samu Costa came on for Pablo Torre and Costa’s first contribution saw his goal-bound effort miraculously cleared off the goal line by ex-Preston North End left back Alvaro Carreras. The game finished 2-1 and the Mallorca players can hold their heads high. They came so close to sharing the spoils.
La Liga now shuts down for the international break and our next game is away at Espanyol in Barcelona on Monday, September 15 at 9pm. Mallorquinistas will have been well pleased with our performance on Saturday night, as usual in the Bernabeu it’s a case of against all odds. We can now face the new season full of optimism. Visca Mallorca!