Tchouameni strike gives Real Madrid scrappy win
Real Madrid warmed up for a pivotal week in their season with a hard-fought win over Mallorca in La Liga thanks to Aurelien Tchouameni’s long-range goal.
Real face Manchester City in the second leg of their Champions League quarter-final next Wednesday before El Clasico with Barcelona a week on Sunday.
Tchouameni’s powerful effort just after half-time took a slight deflection before it flew high into the net.
Real are 11 points above second-placed Barca who face Cadiz at 20:00 BST.
With one eye on their trip to the Etihad, Real boss Carlo Ancelotti took the opportunity to rest and rotate players.
Dani Carvajal, Eduardo Camavinga, Toni Kroos and Vinicius Junior – who all started in Real’s 3-3 draw against Man City at the Bernanbeu – were all named among the substitutes.
The result was a slightly scrappy performance as Mallorca, beaten by Athletic Bilbao in the final of the Copa del Rey last weekend, made life difficult for Los Blancos.
The contest was settled by Tchouameni’s shot from 35 yards which skimmed off the leg of Manu Morlanes and gave Mallorca goalkeeper Predrag Rajkovic no chance.
England midfielder Jude Bellingham played 64 minutes for Real before he was withdrawn and, despite a few late nerves, the La Liga leaders held on.
