This archive report was first published on 20 October 2019.
On a chilly Saturday night, October 19, 2019, Real Madrid suffered their first defeat in the La Liga 2019-20 campaign at the hands of Mallorca at the Son Moix Stadium.
With the defeat, Real Madrid dropped to the second spot behind defending champions Barcelona in the league standings.
Thibaut Courtois was in goal for Real Madrid, while Luka Jovic and Eder Militao made their first starts of the season. However, Gareth Bale and Eden Hazard were not part of the matchday squad.
Seven minutes into the match, Mallorca broke the deadlock through Lago Junior, who scored a beautiful goal from the edge of the box.
Real Madrid's defense struggled to contain Mallorca's attacks, with Militao and Sergio Ramos under immense pressure.
Karim Benzema came close to equalizing with a goal-bound chip, but it hit the crossbar, leaving the scores in favor of Mallorca.
After the restart, Mallorca continued to ask questions, but Real Madrid held on until the 66th minute when Zinedine Zidane made a double substitution, bringing on Rodrygo and Federico Valverde for Jovic and Isco.
However, tragedy struck as Alvaro Odriozola was sent off for a second bookable offense, leaving Real Madrid with 10 men on the pitch.
Despite Mallorca's attempts to score in the final minutes, Courtois was spot on to save their shots, and the match ended 1-0 in favor of Mallorca.
Real Madrid's Spanish league title challenge has been put to the test, and the team will have to regroup and come back stronger in their next match.
