Levante 2 - Real Mallorca 0
A shell-shocked Real Mallorca need a miracle to avoid relegation to the Spanish second division after a crushing 2-0 defeat against fellow strugglers Levante on a wet Sunday night in Valencia.
After defeat away at Getafe in midweek, this was another dreadful performance marked by a 32nd minute howler of biblical proportions from young centre back David Lopez, which will haunt him for quite some time. The defeat sees the Palma side stuck in second-to-last place with just 39 points and the last home game against already-relegated Oviedo next Saturday night.
I watched the game in a standing-room-only Mallorca Sports Bar and the fans were in fine voice before this footballing disaster unfolded in front of them. Mallorca looked and played like a team of strangers. They made too many mistakes, lacked intensity and were too slow and lethargic in their build up. What they were good at however was passing the ball back to the goalkeeper. I lost count of how many times Leo Roman was called into action to boot the ball clear.
This game was a disaster and, as far as Mallorca were concerned, it all went totally wrong towards the end of the game. Mojica was shown a red card near the end for pulling an opponent’s hair and captain Martin Valjent limped off with what looked like hamstring problems. Levante’s second goal near the end came from a corner kick with our defence by now containing two rookie B team players all over the place. At the death Levante missed a penalty as Mallorca were in total disarray.
Next Saturday night at 9pm in the final match of the season, even if we win, we still have to rely on other results going our way to survive.
SUMMING UP: This game felt less like a football match and more like a slow, painful slide towards the second division abyss. It was supposed to see Mallorca fighting for their La Liga lives, but in reality they failed to rise to the occasion. Levante, on the other hand, were well up for it and were gifted all three points. We did enjoy spells of possession but every attack broke down in the final third. It was bad enough losing such an important encounter, but now we have to look for help from elsewhere and require a final match day miracle.
As fans left the Mallorca Sports Bar, they all knew La Liga participation was slipping away. Mallorca’s demise has been coming for a while as we now look likely to face a backlash both on and off the pitch. Too much time has been taken up at the club by hospitality and more time should have been spent building a team that could and should be able to stay in top flight Spanish football. The inquest on how it’s all gone wrong is about to start.