Mallorca will host Real Oviedo on the final day with their season still hanging by a thread. Victory is the first requirement. Then they need help elsewhere: Girona must beat Elche, Getafe must beat Osasuna and Levante must get a result against Betis at La Cartuja if Mallorca are to stay up.
The pressure comes after two losses that left the island club in a deep hole, a 3-1 defeat to Getafe and a 2-0 loss to Levante. Those results mean Mallorca arrive needing more than their own performance, and they will have to do it without Johan Mojica, who was sent off against Levante last Sunday and is unavailable because of his self-expulsion. Marash Kumbulla and Mateo Joseph are also out, while Antonio Raíllo remains a doubt because of injury.
There is still one personal target that keeps Mallorca interested even as the table turns against them. Vedat Muriqi has a final chance to compete for the Pichichi award and is two goals behind Kylian Mbappé. For a team with survival on the line, that gives the match a second layer of urgency: one goal could matter both at the bottom and at the top of the scoring charts.
Real Oviedo arrive with no rescue mission of their own. They are bottom of the table and have already been relegated for three matchdays, leaving this fixture as the end of a short return to Primera. Guillermo Almada announced on Thursday that he will not continue at the club, closing a spell that produced 4 wins, 7 draws and 10 defeats in 21 matches. The departure adds a final note of uncertainty to a side that has already accepted its fate.
Oviedo will also be short-handed. Fede Viñas is suspended, Leander Dendoncker and Ovie Ejaria are injured, and Moldovan is expected to start after making his league debut in the previous round. Santi Cazorla could repeat as a starter. Even in a match with little left to decide for the visitors, there is still selection interest and one last look at the team Almada leaves behind.
José María Sánchez will referee the game, which gives Mallorca the kind of stage they no longer control. Their survival chances depend on a win, three other results and a dose of luck that has not come easily in recent weeks. That is the reality of the final day: Mallorca can do their part, but they cannot do all of it.
