No other result mattered for Mallorca than a win. If they won and if results went the right way, they could just escape relegation. And so ...
Not a lot going on for quarter of an hour and then ... salvation time might have arrived, Alfaro putting Mallorca ahead. Valladolid, nothing to play for and having had some indifferent recent form, were surely there for the taking and for being the route to safety. And Mallorca were making most of the play. But. Oh no, the lively Omar drew a save from Aouate but there was Bueno to equalise for Valladolid.
Elsewhere, Deportivo had gone behind against Sociedad but Celta Vigo had taken the lead against Espanyol, a permutation that would mean Mallorca would be relegated regardless.
But, but, but, one moment ... Martí, the veteran midfielder Martí, one of the last players you'd expect, popped up to shoot Mallorca ahead again. Three points if things stayed the same, but safety or doom would still depend on what happened in Vigo.
Into the second half, and Aouate on saving duty after only a couple of minutes for Mallorca. Ten minutes later, though, it was Dos Santos, who else, who put Mallorca three-one up. Mallorca were doing all they could. And there was more. Valladolid were now on the end of a thumping, Márquez making it 4-1. But Vigo were still winning.
Valladolid pulled one back through Omar with 20 minutes left, but with a two-goal cushion, Mallorca's fate surely lay elsewhere, and that fate included Zaragoza going behind against Atlético, not that this really mattered. Only Vigo mattered. And Vigo did matter, holding on to beat Espanyol. Mallorca, seven points from the final three games, but relegated.
Mallorca:
Aouate; Hutton, Geromel, Bigas, Luna; Martí (Pina 89), Tissone; Alfaro (Pereira 84), Márquez, Dos Santos (Nsue 75); Victor
Goals: Alfaro (16), Martí (42), Dos Santos (57), Márquez (68)
Yellows: Geromel (49), Dos Santos (72), Márquez (79)
Valladolid:
Jaime; Rukavina, Rueda, Valiente, Peña: Rubio (Baraja 66), Pérez, Ebert (Rama 75), Bueno (Lolo 72), Omar; Larsson
Goals: Bueno (30), Omar (71)
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