Real Madrid suffered a setback in their bid to retain the LaLiga title after suffering a shock 1-0 defeat at Mallorca on Sunday.

Mallorca took the lead in the 13th minute through a bizarre own goal from Nacho, and Los Blancos couldn't find an equaliser.

Nacho left his teammates stunned as he tried to clear a cross and headed the ball high over his own goalkeeper and into the net.

Carlo Ancelotti's side had a golden chance for a breakthrough on the hour mark, but Marco Asensio saw his penalty saved by Predrag Rajkovic.

They had almost 75% of possession against a side who recorded their only shot on target in the 84th minute, mustering 20 attempts on goal to Mallorca's four.

With Real's defeat, Barcelona can extend their lead at the top of the table to eight points if they beat Sevilla on Sunday night.

"It happens in football, I went for it with my head and it went in," Nacho said when asked about his own goal after the game. "We had the penalty, a clear chance, we couldn't put it away. It's a shame, three lost points.

"We knew it was going to be difficult, with the kick-off time, we didn't have much rest, Mallorca are having a good season, we knew it would be tight, and obviously when they went ahead it got even more complicated."

There was also another setback for Madrid as goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois suffered an injury before the match and was replaced by Andriy Lunin.

Karim Benzema was also missing through injury, and Madrid is hopeful both the striker and Courtois will return to action in time to face Liverpool in the Champions League later this month.

"They scored early and then it was difficult, a lot of fouls, the game stopping a lot, players going down. But the team played until the end, we deserved to draw, we missed the penalty, we created chances in not much space, but we played our game," Ancelotti said after the defeat.

"We need more mobility, getting in behind. It was hard to play in between the lines. The penalty was a ball in behind. But when the defence is deep, it's hard to get in behind."

The champions travel on Monday to the Club World Cup in Morocco and they face Egypt's Al Ahly in Rabat on Wednesday.

Source:
courtesy of ESPN

by ESPN

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