Entering 2024, La Liga is rekindled, in a match in the 19th round, the Champions League 14-time champion Real Madrid sat at home at the Bernabeu Stadium to face Mallorca, Vinicius returned from injury, in the first half, Lunin resolved Larin's one-shot opportunity, Sanchez's header hit the crossbar, in the second half, Dias's header hit the crossbar, Rudiger scored the only goal of the game with a header, and finally Real Madrid defeated Mallorca 1-0 at home, made a good start to the New Year, and won the La Liga halfway championship, unbeaten in 11 consecutive rounds, and beat the city derby opponent Atletico Madrid by 10 points。
This is Real Madrid's first game in 2024 and the New Year's debut at the Bernabeu Stadium, Ancelotti has just completed a contract extension with Real Madrid and will coach until 2026. In this game, Vinicius and Rodrygo, who have been recovering from a long injury, partnered in the front, Valverde, Bellingham, Modric, Kroos sat in the midfield, Carvajal, Tchouameni, Rudiger, Fran Garcia formed the defensive line, and Lunin guarded the door.
In the 10th minute, Mallorca launched a counterattack with a long pass from the backfield, Larin stepped forward to form a single chance, and Lu Ning abandoned the goal and jumped to the top outside the penalty area to resolve the crisis. In the 13th minute, Luka Modric broke down the right and crossed, and Bellingham stepped forward into the box to head the ball away from the goalkeeper. In the 20th minute, Modric made a wonderful pass with the outside instep, and Vinicius stepped forward into the box and volleyed slightly wide. In the 30th minute, Real Madrid played two against four in the front, Rodrygo passed, and Vinicius continuously got rid of the defense in the penalty area and shot wide.
In the 37th minute, Vinicius broke through on the left side and cut inside to the top of the arc and his long-range shot was saved by the goalkeeper. In the 41st minute, Carvajal crossed from the right, and Valverde stepped forward into the box and fired a ridiculous shot. In the 42nd minute, Mallorca counter-attacked, Rodriguez broke through into the box and crossed, and Antonio Sanchez's header hit the crossbar at the back post and was confiscated by Lunin.
In the second half, the two teams changed sides and fought again, and in the 53rd minute, Real Madrid got a free kick opportunity in front, and Kroos took the free kick and shot directly at the goal slightly off. In the 54th minute, Mallorca counterattacked, Moussa Costa hit the ball from outside the penalty area from a distance, and the ball hit the post and bounced, and Real Madrid escaped. In the 57th minute, Antonio Sanchez received a cross from a teammate and fired a cushion shot from inside the box.
In the 69th minute, Real Madrid attacked in the front, Joselu made the ball with his back in the penalty area, Valverde passed diagonally, Rodrygo followed up on the left side and shot was saved by the goalkeeper, Dias jumped to the top of the empty goal at the back point and actually hit the post, Real Madrid missed a good opportunity to score. In the 78th minute, Real Madrid won a corner kick opportunity on the left side, Modric drove a corner kick, Rudiger grabbed a header in the penalty area and scored, Real Madrid finally broke the deadlock and led Mallorca 1-0 at home.
In the final moments of the game, Bellingham got off to a deflection from a defender at the top of the penalty area and fired wide, and finally Real Madrid beat Mallorca 1-0 at home to get the new year off to a flying start. Judging from the post-match statistics, Real Madrid had 67% possession and 5 shots on target from 17 shots in the game, while Mallorca only had 33% possession and had 0 shots on target from 7 attempts. After this battle, Real Madrid's points reached 48 points, which was the same as the dark horse Girona, and ranked first with a mutual record, winning the half of this season's La Liga championship. Due to the ups and downs of Barcelona and Atletico Madrid's form this season, Real Madrid has thrown off the points gap, of which Atletico Madrid is 10 points behind Real Madrid, and Real Madrid is the biggest favorite to win the championship this season.