Vedat Muriqi snatched Mallorca a surprise 2-1 La Liga win over Real Madrid on Saturday to deal Los Blancos a significant blow in the Spanish title race.
Alvaro Arbeloa’s side thought they had rescued a point after Eder Militao nodded home with two minutes remaining before Muriqi pounced in stoppage time to help the hosts climb to 17th.
The defeat leaves second-place Real Madrid four points behind leaders Barcelona, who visit Atletico Madrid later on Saturday.
“For me it is easy to see but the hard thing is for the players to know that without giving 200 percent today, we were not going to win,” Arbeloa told reporters.
“We were on top in the first half but because of one mistake, they scored. Here if you slip up for a moment… you end up paying the price.
“This is the elite, the top flight… not having a better second half than we did is what hurts me the most.”
Arbeloa started the game with Vinicius Junior on the bench, with Tuesday’s Champions League quarter-final against Bayern Munich in mind.
Madrid lacked spark in the first half, creating few openings of note. The best was for top scorer Kylian Mbappe, fit after a knee sprain that has troubled him for months.
Arda Guler rolled a ball in behind Mallorca’s defence for the French superstar to dart on to but Leo Roman saved with his leg.
The goalkeeper denied Mbappe again after Eduardo Camavinga fed him and Antonio Rudiger also nodded over from a corner.
Manu Morlanes threatened for Mallorca, heading just over, but Madrid did not heed the warning.
The midfielder opened the scoring a few minutes later, losing Camavinga and arriving into the box to fire Pablo Maffeo’s cross into the bottom corner past Andriy Lunin.
‘Two Difficult Weeks’
Leo Roman saved from Mbappe early in the second half as Madrid searched for an equaliser.
Arbeloa sent on Vinicius, Jude Bellingham and Militao for his first appearance since December after injury.
Madrid huffed and puffed but to little avail as Martin Demichelis’s Mallorca stayed solid at the back until the final stages.
They were eventually undone by Trent Alexander-Arnold’s corner, whipped towards Militao, who powered a header into the top corner.
However there was a sting in the tail for Madrid.
Muriqi, second top scorer in the division behind Mbappe with 19 goals, lashed past Lunin in the 91st minute to claim three points for his side.
The striker was visibly emotional after scoring, having missed a penalty in the team’s previous game, a defeat by relegation-battling rivals Elche.
“It’s been two difficult weeks… emotions and nerves get the better of me, I’m human,” said Muriqi, who also missed out on World Cup qualification with Kosovo in a play-off against Turkey.
“Many thanks to the fans for the enormous support and everything you’ve given me. I hope we can stay in the top flight.”
Mallorca climbed two points clear of the drop zone after recording a famous victory, which the players celebrated gleefully with the fans at the end.
“I’ve really wanted the boys to feel joy like this,” said Demichelis.
“It doesn’t mean we are safe, but they needed it, we kept taking blows. The boys were beaten down but training very well.”
AFP
