In the early morning of January 4, Beijing time, the 19th round of the 2023-24 La Liga season ushered in a key battle: the leader Real Madrid hosted the weak Mallorca.
At the end of the first 18 rounds, Real Madrid accumulated 45 points in 18 games, 14 wins, 3 draws and 1 loss, and in the case of the same points, with a goal difference advantage and a mutual record advantage, Girona led the La Liga standings, leading the third Atletico Madrid and the fourth defending champion Barcelona are 7 points. Mallorca are 14th with 18 points, including 3 wins, 9 draws and 6 losses, five points more than Celta in the relegation zone.
Yes, Real Madrid started the 4222 formation, Vinicius and Rodrygo partnered in the front, midfielders Bellingham, Valverde, Kroos, Modric, four defenders Fran Garcia, Rudiger, Tchouameni, Carvajal, and goalkeeper Lunin. The starting eleven is worth a total of 700 million euros.
Mallorca started in a 541 formation, with a single arrow Larin in the front, Dani Rodriguez, Costa, Mollenez, Sanchez in the midfield, Van der Hayden, Nastasic, Lello, Giovanni Gonzalez, Maffeo, and goalkeeper Rajkovic. The starting eleven is worth a total of 46.7 million euros.
After the start of the game, playing at home, the strong leaders did not have much advantage.
In the 10th minute, in the face of Mallorca's attack, when there was no one at the back and the defenders couldn't catch up, Lu Ning rushed out of the penalty area and cleared the ball with a header to resolve the danger.
In the 13th minute, Luka Modric crossed from the right, and Bellingham headed in front of the goalkeeper, but it was confiscated by the goalkeeper.
In the 20th minute, Modric went through and Vinicius shot wide.
In the 30th minute, Rodrygo passed the ball to Vinicius in front, and Vinicius shook off the angle and shot wide.
In the 37th minute, Vinicius took a long shot from the front of the field and was saved by the goalkeeper.
In the 41st minute, Carvajal crossed, and Valverde fired a shot from inside the penalty area, which was missed.
In the 42nd minute, Dani Rodriguez crossed into the penalty area and Sanchez headed the ball into the crossbar, which was then picked up by Lunin.
In the 54th minute, Costa shot from outside the box hit the post and bounced.
In the 57th minute, Sanchez received a cross from his teammate from the left and hit the goal, which went high.
Unable to break the deadlock for a long time, Ancelotti replaced Vinicius with Dias in the 60th minute, and then replaced Joselu with Joselu in the 67th minute to continue to strengthen the attack.
In the 69th minute, Joselu played the ball with his back, Valverde crossed diagonally, Rodrygo shot, which was saved by the goalkeeper, and Dias's close-range header was empty, but it hit the post and bounced.
In the 78th minute, Real Madrid took a corner kick on the left side, Modric drove to the penalty area, Rudiger headed the goal, and the ball scored! Real Madrid broke the deadlock on the field and led Mallorca 1:0.
In the end, Real Madrid narrowly defeated Mallorca 1:0 at home, accumulating 48 points in 19 games, continuing to lead the La Liga standings.
The current Real Madrid, center, central defenders are short of people, there is no corresponding recruitment plan in the winter window, there is news that Real Madrid wants to bring in only Mbappe, what if Mbappe does not come? Or come again in the summer, then Real Madrid is enough to choke, such as this game, it is difficult to play a relegation team at home, La Liga may still be able to take advantage of Barcelona's slump to win the championship, and the Champions League meets a top team like Bayern or Manchester City, and it is difficult to deal with it by defeating Mallorca.