Real Madrid loses at Mallorca ahead of Club World Cup

MADRID (AP) — Marco Asensio missed a penalty kick and depleted Real Madrid misplaced 1-0 at Mallorca within the Spanish league on Sunday in its final match earlier than travelling to Morocco to play on the Club World Cup.

The draw provides Barcelona the prospect to extend its lead on the high when it hosts struggling Sevilla later Sunday. The Catalan membership will enter the match at Camp Nou with a five-point lead over second-place Madrid.

“We already expected a very tough match,” Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti mentioned. “We had our chances but couldn’t take advantage of them.”

Ancelotti couldn’t depend on a number of injured starters, together with striker Karim Benzema, defender Éder Militão and goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois, who was dropped from the squad on the final minute after getting injured throughout the warmup. Ancelotti additionally rested midfielders Toni Kroos and Luka Modric, who got here on within the second half.

Asensio missed an opportunity to equalize when his Sixtieth-minute penalty kick was saved by Mallorca goalkeeper Pedrag Rajkovic after Madrid ahead Vinícius Júnior had been fouled. Madrid’s final probability was a header by Antonio Rüdiger that went narrowly large deep into stoppage time.

The hosts acquired on the board with an own-goal by Nacho Fernández, who was changing Militão in defence. Nacho went for a excessive cross and deflected the ball into his personal internet over goalkeeper Andriy Lunin, who began rather than Courtois.

“I hit the ball with my head and unfortunately it went into the top corner,” Nacho mentioned. “It was a complicated match, against a team that is having a good season. It’s a pity that we let three points get away.”

Madrid was coming off a win towards Valencia after being held by Real Sociedad. Its opponent within the semifinals of the Club World Cup on Wednesday will probably be Egyptian membership Al Ahly.

It was the second win in three league matches for Mallorca, and the fourth straight at dwelling. It remained midtable with 28 factors from 20 matches.

“It’s a good result, moves us further away from the relegation zone,” Mallorca’s Mexican coach Javier Aguirre said. “But there are many matches left, we can’t relax.”

Vinícius was proven a yellow card and will probably be suspended for Madrid’s subsequent league sport towards last-place Elche.

In different league video games Sunday, third-place Real Sociedad hosts Valladolid and relegation-threatened Valencia visits Girona. Sociedad can transfer inside three factors of Madrid with a victory.