Aurelien Tchouameni scored early in the second half to give Real Madrid a 1-0 win at Mallorca in LaLiga on Saturday. They rested some important players before their quarterfinal match against Manchester City in the Champions League.

Real was the better team, and Tchouameni scored in the 48th minute with a powerful shot from outside the penalty area that beat Predrag Rajkovic, who was diving to stop it.

With the win, Real now has 78 points, 11 more than their fierce foes Barcelona. Next weekend, Real will host Barcelona in “El Clasico” at the Santiago Bernabeu.

Barça has a game in hand and will play at Cadiz later on Saturday, who are in danger of being relegated. They are two points ahead of Girona, which lost 3-1 at Atletico Madrid and is in third place.

Runners-up in the Copa del Rey With 31 points, Mallorca is 15th in LaLiga, six points ahead of the teams that are going down.

Fourteen changes were made to Carlo Ancelotti’s starting eleven for the second leg of the Champions League match against Manchester City on Wednesday. The first leg was tied 3-3 on Tuesday.

He rested important players like Vinicius Jr., Rodrygo, and Toni Kroos for Saturday’s game at Mallorca and gave Nacho and Antonio Ruediger the start. For the City game, Tchouameni is not allowed to play.

Real Madrid should have won by a bigger margin than they did against Mallorca, but Nacho and Ruediger played well.

In a dull first half, Jude Bellingham’s shot off the post was the best chance.

After Tchouameni scored, Real missed several chances to make it 2-0. Brahim Diaz missed a simple chance from close range.

Ancelotti told the press, “The team has been very solid and very reliable. We haven’t always played well, but the team has always fought and competed.”

“For the Clasico (next Sunday), it was important to keep our lead.” It is always hard to win here.