Tchouaméni gives a champion victory to a Madrid between the wars | The truth

Carlo Ancelotti mainly thought about that contest, who equaled Zinedine Zidane in the Mediterranean archipelago as the second coach with the most league games in the Chamartín entity, to give oxygen to a team that is crying out for it and whose structure was supported by his basic pillars, in an eleven carefully studied for the second final that the whites will have in the coming days.

Atmosphere of great events in a Son Moix with the smell of gunpowder and the noise of fireworks with an intense but ineffective start from a Real Madrid that knew full well that they would find themselves inconvenienced by Mallorca from the beginning, faithful to the ideas of Javier Aguirre, with whom intensity and order are non-negotiable.

The clear script in a duel marked by the hangover of both, with the heartbreak of the Cup final in the vermillions and the physical wear and tear against Pep Guardiola's team for the visitors, who come out of the challenge strengthened and with a victory that protects their leadership .

The Mexican strategist did not lie in the preview when he said that the best way to play against Madrid was to be organized, knowing that it would be a game of few opportunities that the locals could not take advantage of to score points and almost definitively move away from relegation. The two clubs had such intense matches that what took place on the Palma green in the first half almost seemed like another sport next to what was seen in La Cartuja and the Bernabéu days ago.

The intimidations became difficult and the intense and sticky marks gave way to a fleeting exposure of both of them between the corset. Raíllo hammered a header from a corner and warned Lunin, who denied the Balearic goal with a great dive shortly before Bellingham smashed a shot against the crossbar.

The Englishman, who at the beginning of the second half saw Rajković deny him the target, was a few centimeters away from recovering the goal after five games without scoring. The Serbian goalkeeper's lock was opened by Tchouaméni, who will miss the very important Etihad duel due to suspension, with a missile from outside the area that grazed Morlanes just enough so that the goalkeeper could only follow it with his eyes. Madrid took the lead with little, and moments later were able to put the ball in the way with a double chance from Brahim in which the red and black goalkeeper was successful.

Vinicius makes himself noticed

Mallorca saved the attacks after the Madrid defense avoided a scare from Abdón Prats with a heroic cross. The most famous mustache in LaLiga had his shortly before Ancelotti brought on Vinicius, who last year lived a nightmare on the island from which he emerged as the flag of the fight against racism.

The Fluminense, paired for a few minutes with his 'friend' Maffeo, made himself noticed from the moment he stepped on the green over which Lunin flew to prevent Sergi Darder's surprise. A nice succession of chances did not move the scoreboard. Madrid, with Militao alone again in the final minutes, resolved a complex commitment without brilliance but with justice, maintains its firm step in the domestic competition and can now concentrate on the second leg of the Champions League quarterfinals against City.