Real Madrid will attempt to keep the title race alive for at least an extra 24 hours when they welcome Mallorca to the Santiago Bernabeu on Wednesday.
Los Blancos are seven points adrift of La Liga leaders Barcelona following Sunday’s 4-3 defeat in El Clasico, while the visitors head into matchday 36 in ninth position.
Match preview
Real Madrid are on the verge of relinquishing their La Liga crown to their old foes Barcelona after their title hopes were effectively quashed by Sunday’s defeat at Estadi Olimpic Lluis Companys.
Kylian Mbappe scored two goals inside the opening 15 minutes to get Real Madrid off to the perfect start, but the half quickly got away from Los Blancos, as Barcelona netted four goals, including three in 13 minutes, to take a 4-2 lead into the break.
Mbappe found the net in the 70th minute to become the third player in the 21st century to net a La Liga hat-trick, however, his exploits ultimately counted for very little, as Real Madrid fell to their fourth Clasico defeat of the season, leaving them seven points adrift with only three games left to play.
As a result, Los Blancos could hand the title to their rivals on Wednesday if they fail to beat Mallorca, while a win would at least keep their faint hopes alive for another 24 hours before Barcelona face Catalan rivals Espanyol on Thursday.
While the title may be slipping away, Real Madrid will still be keen to finish with a strong set of results in their final three games against Mallorca, Sevilla and Real Sociedad, as they look to deliver a fitting send-off to Carlo Ancelotti, who is set to depart to become Brazil’s new head coach, paving the way for Xabi Alonso to take over at the Santiago Bernabeu.
Los Blancos will fancy their chances of taking maximum points from Wednesday’s fixture, considering the fact that they have won 14 of their 17 home league games this season (D1, L2), including victories in their last two home outings against Athletic Bilbao and Celta Vigo.
They have also won each of their previous eight La Liga home games against Mallorca, scoring 25 goals and keeping four clean sheets across those matches.
Mallorca will travel to the capital in a positive mood after they ended a three-game winless run with a narrow 2-1 victory over relegated Real Valladolid.
Jagoba Arrasate‘s side had to come from behind to take all three points off La Liga’s basement side, with Omar Mascarell cancelling out Chuki‘s early opener, before Sergi Darder went on to score the game’s winning goal to leave his ninth place and level on 47 points with Rayo Vallecano in eighth position.
An eighth-placed finish and Conference League qualification would be a significant achievement for Arrasate in his first season as Mallorca boss, but he may be harbouring hopes of securing Europa League football with just two points separating his side from Celta Vigo in seventh spot.
Unfortunately for Mallorca, two of their final three games will take place away from home, which will not inspire confidence after losing five of their previous eight road trips, including three of their last four by a 1-0 scoreline.
Those results have ultimately contributed to Mallorca’s failure to score in eight of their 17 La Liga away games this season – a tally that is only worse than Getafe and Real Sociedad.
Mallorca lost 3-0 when they last faced Real Madrid in the Spanish Super Cup semi-final in Saudi Arabia, but they can draw some inspiration from the fact that they held Los Blancos to a 1-1 draw in the reverse league fixture on the opening day of the season.
Team News
Real Madrid remain without Dani Carvajal, Eder Militao and Antonio Rudiger due to knee injuries, while Ferland Mendy and Eduardo Camavinga are sidelined with adductor and thigh issues respectively.
Key attacker Vinicius Junior is expected to miss the midweek fixture after he sustained a sprained ankle in the defeat to Barcelona.
Full-back Lucas Vazquez also failed to make it through the game unscathed and is now set to sit out Wednesday’s game with a thigh problem.
Rodrygo has not played in the last two matches due to illness, and while he was an unused substitute on Sunday, it remains to be seen whether he will be fit to start.
Meanwhile, Aurelien Tchouameni will serve a one-match ban after picking up his fifth yellow card of the league season at the weekend.
As for the visitors, Arrasate is still having to cope without the services of Manu Morlanes and Robert Navarro due to hamstring and adductor injuries respectively.
Experienced forward Abdon Prats is set to miss a third consecutive game after he sustained a calf injury in last month’s defeat to Barcelona.
Chiquinho will have to be assessed by Mallorca’s medical staff following his absence from the matchday squad for Saturday’s win over Valladolid.
Arrasate could make alterations to his starting lineup, with Jose Copete, Antonio Sanchez and Cyle Larin all in contention to feature at the Santiago Bernabeu.
Real Madrid possible starting lineup:
Courtois; Valverde, Asencio, Ramon, Garcia; Modric, Ceballos; Brahim, Bellingham, Mbappe; Endrick
Mallorca possible starting lineup:
Greif; Maffeo, Valjent, Raillo, Copete, Mojica; Sanchez, Mascarell, Costa, Darder; Larin
We say: Real Madrid 3-1 Mallorca
Real Madrid will want to delay Barcelona’s title win by at least 24 hours, and they will also be keen to produce a response following Sunday’s disappointing result in El Clasico.
With that in mind, we believe that Los Blancos will showcase their firepower to claim a relatively comfortable victory over a Mallorca side that have lost on their last eight visits to the Santiago Bernabeu in La Liga.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
