Real Mallorca 2-1 Real Madrid: Morlanes 41, Muriqi 90+1; Militao 88
It was hard to imagine being Alvaro Arbeloa on Saturday, watching on from the sidelines, emotional pendulum swinging back and forth as Real Madrid pressed relentlessly, then conceded, then equalised, and then conceded again in a heart-rending final late blow as Real Mallorca sent Los Blancos back to Madrid empty-handed.
It was Vedat Muriqi, a Kosovo international, who delivered the sucker-punch, sufficient consolation after his national team had been denied a dream World Cup debut with a narrow defeat against Turkey in the playoffs last week. Now relegation-threatened Mallorca might actually survive, the successful giant-killing moving them out of the drop zone and up to 17th, two points clear with eight games remaining.
As for Madrid, surely the end of their hopes – not necessarily even of winning the title: equally important is denying Barcelona a successive La Liga trophy. But seven points behind after Barcelona won at Atletico, overpowered by La Blaugrana in the Spanish Super Cup final in Jeddah, and having been embarrassingly eliminated as well from the Copa del Rey by second-division side Albacete, surely the Champions League is the only hope of avoiding a trophy drought for the second successive season.
Barcelona also seem generally more stable. Hansi Flick is at the wheel and a contract extension is being discussed. Homegrown stars Lamine Yamal and Fermin Lopez are thriving. Pedri, rejected by Madrid as a teenager, can lay claim to being the best midfielder in the world at present, and is at the heart of the Catalan team.
Defeat at Son Moix.
— Real Madrid C.F. 🇬🇧🇺🇸 (@realmadriden) April 4, 2026
In contrast Madrid have stars they are struggling to fit into any kind of squad identity. Kylian Mbappe has been accused of missing Madrid’s games so that he can be fresh for France at the World Cup. Jude Bellingham can barely find a place in the England squad. And Trent Alexander-Arnold could not make it onto Thomas Tuchel’s 35-man list when it was more difficult to leave anyone out.
In further contrast, the 36-time Spanish top-flight champions have also cycled through three permanent managers in two seasons. Carlo Ancelotti’s trophyless final season was followed by Xabi Alonso’s brief stint, and then Arbeloa was thrust into the hot seat.
Arbeloa himself is an attractive man, with his well-trimmed beard and thin, athletic look. And on Saturday he was dashing in his dark hoodie and t-shirt, like a corporate banker on a rest day. “A lapse in concentration,” he said was responsible for Mallorca’s opening goal, and after that his side ended up “paying the price because this is the elite level”.
Madrid controlled much of the early play but found Leo Roman in excellent form, a goalkeeper with established acclaim for his habit of producing inspired stops against La Liga’s top two teams. He denied Kylian Mbappe on multiple occasions, producing great saves both from close range and at full stretch to keep Madrid at bay during a dominant opening spell.
BIENVENIDOS A MALLORCA pic.twitter.com/PVwjtHuGiq
— RCD Mallorca (@RCD_Mallorca) April 4, 2026
Mallorca successfully weathered the storm and then struck first just before the break. Pablo Maffeo delivered a cross into the area that was met by Manu Morlanes, who controlled and sent Andriy Lunin the wrong way from close range to give the hosts an unlikely lead.
Madrid lacked their initial verve after the interval, although Mbappe went close again but Roman saved with his left foot. Minutes later, the forward’s powerful acrobatic attempt cannoned off the back of Maffeo’s head and the defender crumbled. Arbeloa had seen enough and made three changes on the hour, bringing on Vinicius Junior, Jude Bellingham and the returning Eder Militao in place of Manuel Angel Moran, Eduardo Camavinga and Dean Huijsen.
The changes added some urgency but not much else as Mallorca defended resolutely. “Not having played a much better second half is what hurts me the most,” said Arbeloa. But Militao did provide the response his manager was hoping for, powering home a header from a corner that seemed to have rescued a point for the visitors with just two minutes left in normal time.
But then came Muriqi’s moment. Breaking quickly in stoppage time, Mallorca caught Madrid exposed, and the Kosovo forward hammered into the roof of the net from close range to spark wild celebrations and more misery for Madrid.
