Mallorca ended the season with a 3:0 victory against Real Oviedo, but the celebration at Son Moix did not have full effect
RCD Mallorca defeated Real Oviedo 3:0 at Estadi Mallorca Son Moix in Palma de Mallorca in the final, 38th round of LaLiga and concluded the season with one of its most convincing home performances. According to LaLiga's official data, the goals for the home team were scored by Pablo Torre near the end of the first half, Manu Morlanes in the 83rd minute and Vedat Muriqi in the 88th minute, confirming Mallorca's superiority in a match in which the visiting team did not register a single shot on target. The match was played on May 23, 2026 at 19:00, and the referee was José María Sánchez Martínez. For the hosts, it was a victory that looked convincing on the pitch, but according to the available reports it did not change the broader outcome of the season because Mallorca, despite the final triumph, remained below the line in the fight for top-flight status.
The match had clear competitive weight even before the referee's first whistle. Mallorca entered the final round with the imperative of victory, while Real Oviedo arrived at Son Moix as the bottom-placed team in the championship. According to LaLiga's official website, Mallorca had 39 points after 37 matches before the duel, and Oviedo 29 points, which left the hosts in a situation in which they had to do their part and then wait for the outcome at other stadiums. The home team did exactly that: it achieved a victory without conceding a goal, statistically completely outplayed the opponent and at least in sporting terms convincingly concluded the season in front of its fans.
Pablo Torre broke the resistance before the break
The start of the match did not immediately bring the difference suggested by the final result. Mallorca had more possession and reached the final third more often, but in the first part of the match it had to patiently work its way through Oviedo's defence. The visiting team tried to slow the rhythm and close the space between the lines, but the hosts gradually increased the pressure. According to LaLiga's official match report, the first goal came in the 42nd minute when Pablo Torre gave Mallorca the lead. That goal changed the tone of the match because it allowed the home team to continue without the nervousness that often accompanies matches in which victory is the only acceptable outcome.
Torre's goal was important both psychologically and tactically. Mallorca had the initiative up to that point, but not a concrete advantage, so the lead immediately before the break gave the hosts control over the continuation. Real Oviedo had to open up more space after conceding, but did not find a way to threaten more seriously. According to the official statistical data published on the RCD Mallorca website, the home team had 58 percent possession during the match, 485 total passes and 409 accurate passes, while Oviedo remained on 361 passes and 272 accurate passes. That difference was not only a technical statistic, but also a reflection of the balance of power on the pitch.
Mallorca dominated after the break and finished the job late on
The second half confirmed that Mallorca was the more organised, more concrete and more dangerous team in this match. The hosts continued to control the midfield, and Oviedo struggled to get out of its own half. According to RCD Mallorca's official statistics, the home team finished the match with 23 shots, seven of them on target, while Real Oviedo had seven attempts, but none on target. The difference in the quality of chances was even more pronounced: Mallorca, according to the same source, had six big chances, while Oviedo had none. Such a ratio says enough about a match in which the visitor did not manage to seriously question the outcome.
The second goal came in the 83rd minute, when Manu Morlanes increased Mallorca's lead to 2:0. It was the moment in which the match was practically decided, but the hosts did not stop. Five minutes later, in the 88th minute, Vedat Muriqi set the final score at 3:0 and further emphasised the difference between the teams. Muriqi thus finished the match as one of the key figures of the closing stages, and his presence in the penalty area was a constant problem for Oviedo's defence. According to RCD Mallorca's statistics, the home players had 41 touches in the opposition penalty area, while Oviedo had only eight, which clearly shows how much of the game was played in front of the visitors' goal.
A victory that was not enough for a calm outcome
Despite the convincing result, Mallorca's victory did not have the full competitive effect the hosts had hoped for. According to a Tribal Football report, Mallorca ended the season with 42 points, but its relegation from LaLiga was nevertheless confirmed, which further strengthened the impression of a dramatic and unusual outcome. The same source states that this was the highest number of points for a relegated team since the 2010/2011 season, when Deportivo La Coruña went down with the same points total. Such a fact shows how tight the fight for survival in the 2025/2026 season was and how little separated the clubs in the lower part of the table.
For Mallorca, the final victory was therefore at the same time proof of quality and a reminder of missed opportunities during the season. A team that can win 3:0 in the final round, create six big chances and not allow the opponent a shot on target clearly was not without competitive value. The problem was continuity, especially in matches in which points against direct rivals could have carried more weight than one convincing final performance. In such seasons, details decide: draws that were not turned into victories, late goals conceded, weaker runs in key months and results at other stadiums.
Oviedo concluded a difficult season without an attacking response
Real Oviedo played a match at Son Moix that neatly summed up the problems of its season. According to LaLiga's official website, the club had 29 points before the final round, only six wins and 20 defeats after 37 matches. In Palma it failed to offer an attacking response, and the absence of a shot on target particularly highlighted its limitations in the final third. Oviedo scored significantly fewer goals during the season than most of its rivals, and in this match it did not find a way to use the space that opened up while Mallorca searched for victory.
The visitors defended in a formation that, according to LaLiga's official presentation, was set up as a 4-2-3-1, but the defensive block did not withstand the pressure for all 90 minutes. Mallorca's first goal came at a sensitive moment before the break, and the second and third came late on, when Oviedo found it increasingly difficult to keep up with the hosts' rhythm. Although the match had limited competitive effect for the visitors given their position in the table, the manner of defeat showed why they had spent the entire season in the lower part of the standings. A team that does not create enough chances can hardly count on a positive result against an opponent with clear motivation and control of possession.
Son Moix saw a dominant but bitter victory
Son Moix stadium in Palma de Mallorca was the venue for a match in which the emotions were more complex than the result itself. A final 3:0 would usually mean a calm end to the season and satisfaction among the home fans, but the circumstances were different. Mallorca did what it could on its own pitch, but its fate did not depend only on that match. That is why the final whistle brought a mixture of approval for the performance and disappointment because of the broader outcome of the season. In sporting terms, the hosts achieved a victory that deservedly entered the final selection of the round's most emphatic results, especially in comparison with the less eventful draws from the closing stage of the championship.
According to the official statistical data, Mallorca had five corners, 15 tackles won and 50 duels won, while Oviedo won 38 duels. The hosts were also better in aerial duels, where they had 23 won headers compared with the visitors' 12. Such data explain why Mallorca had a lasting territorial advantage and why most of the match was played toward the visitors' penalty area. The figure of 18 home shots from inside the penalty area is particularly important, because it shows that the pressure was not only visual, but was being turned into real goalscoring situations.
Demichelis's team showed character, but the season will be remembered for the overall performance
LaLiga's official presentation lists Martín Demichelis as Mallorca's coach in this match. Against Oviedo, his team looked determined, structured and sufficiently aggressive in the final third to exploit the opponent's weaknesses. Still, the final round cannot erase the entire season. When a team finds itself in a fight for survival, the final league outcome is rarely the consequence of just one match. Performance is built over months, and missed points against clubs of similar rank often carry greater value in the end than a victory in the final round.
Mallorca showed against Oviedo that it has players capable of making a difference. Pablo Torre opened the match with a goal at the most important moment of the first half, Morlanes broke the contest late on, and Muriqi confirmed the victory and rounded off the attacking performance. The defence, meanwhile, remained without a serious shot on target against its own goal, which is always an important fact in professional football. But when such a match happens only at the end of a season in which points have already been scattered, its value remains limited. For the club, the fans and the coaching staff, it is a result that brings pride because of the performance, but not the relief that survival would have brought.
The statistics reveal a one-way match
The figures from the official statistics confirm the impression of complete home control. Mallorca had 23 shots, seven on target, nine blocked attempts and six big chances. Oviedo remained on seven shots, six off target and one blocked attempt. In the passing segment, the hosts were more precise and efficient, with 84 percent accurate passes, while Oviedo were at 75 percent. The difference was also visible in play in the opposition half: Mallorca had 323 passes in the opponent's half, and Oviedo 186.
Such a statistical picture is important because it explains why the result did not seem accidental. Mallorca did not win because of a short surge or an individual mistake by the opponent, but because of systematic control of rhythm, space and finishing. The hosts created superiority in midfield, used width better and more often reached zones from which quality chances are created. Oviedo occasionally defended compactly, but without an outlet game and without a shot on target it could not change the course of the match. In matches of this profile, the first goal often opens up space for a more convincing result, and Mallorca made exactly that use of Torre's goal.
The final round emphasised how even the lower part of LaLiga was
The finale of LaLiga 2025/2026 was especially tense in the lower part of the standings. According to a Guardian report published before the final rounds, the fight for survival was extremely tight, with a large number of clubs under pressure and very small differences in points. In such an environment, even 42 points did not guarantee safety, which proved especially painful in Mallorca's case. Such a return is usually often associated with staying in the league, but a season with a larger number of points in the lower part of the table changes the safety threshold and increases the price of every slip.
For neutral observers, the match between Mallorca and Oviedo was therefore not just a duel between the hosts and the bottom-placed team. It was a match about the limits of one season: what it means to win when it is too late, how much the final impression can soften the overall failure and how the table can sometimes take shape in a way that leaves very little room for consolation. Mallorca got on the pitch what it was looking for, but did not get what it needed in the overall outcome. Oviedo, on the other hand, concluded the season with a defeat that confirmed the weaknesses that had followed it from earlier rounds.
Mallorca will remember this match as one of the cleanest victories of the season, but also as an evening in which the result was not enough to change its fate. Son Moix saw three goals, dominance by the home team and an attacking performance that deserved applause. Still, the final standings left a bitter frame around the victory. In football, a season is not decided only in the final 90 minutes, so this victory, however convincing it was, will above all be viewed as a strong final flash in a campaign that ended far more painfully for Mallorca than the result against Real Oviedo suggested.
Sources:
- LaLiga – official match report for RCD Mallorca - Real Oviedo, scorers, kick-off time, stadium, referee and basic information on the 38th round (link)
- RCD Mallorca – official club match page and match statistics, including shots, possession, passes, duels and big chances (link)
- Tribal Football – report on Mallorca's victory and confirmation of relegation despite the final triumph (link)
- The Guardian – context of the LaLiga relegation battle before the final rounds of the 2025/2026 season (link)