Amid the ruins of Real Madrid and Atlético… La Liga soothes the wounds of Moriki and Lewandowski

Vedat Muriqi led the Kosovo national team to the final of the 2026 World Cup play-offs following a thrilling 4-3 victory over Slovakia in Bratislava, leaving them just one match away from realising their historic dream of reaching the World Cup for the first time.

However, Kosovo fell to a 1-0 defeat in the final on home soil in Pristina against Turkey, seeing the historic dream evaporate before the fans at the Fadl Fokri Stadium on a night dominated by the tears of the players, led by captain Muriki.

Muriki himself summed up that period by saying he had endured two extremely difficult weeks, beginning with a crucial missed penalty for Real Mallorca in the 92nd minute of their defeat to Elche in the relegation battle, followed by the loss of the play-off final against Kosovo and the loss of the World Cup dream, which he described as the greatest dream of his life.

Just a few days after the disappointment of the play-offs, Moriki found the perfect opportunity to heal all the wounds when he led Mallorca to a historic 2-1 victory over Real Madrid in La Liga.

Mallorca took the lead through Manu Morlanes before Real Madrid equalised in the 88th minute through Éder Militão, but Moriki stepped up in the 91st minute to fire home a powerful shot that settled the tie in stoppage time.

Moriki’s goal proved decisive in the battle for survival, especially as the Mallorca players had anticipated that securing points against Real Madrid would be a difficult task.

Moriki noted: “When you do the maths before the match, you put a zero next to Real Madrid even if you’re playing at home. We have to be honest: getting three points means we played a great game and did a good job this week.”

On the other hand, Robert Lewandowski suffered a similar disappointment with the Polish national team, after the ‘White Eagles’ failed to secure a place at the 2026 World Cup following a 3-2 defeat to Sweden in the European play-off final in Stockholm.

The defeat was met with great sadness by the team captain, who hinted at the possibility of retiring from international football following a historic career that saw him become his country’s all-time leading goalscorer.

But it didn’t take long for the veteran Polish striker to rediscover his scoring touch; just hours after the disappointment of the play-off, he returned to La Liga action in a Barcelona shirt for a crucial clash against Atlético Madrid.

In a closely contested match that was heading for a 1-1 draw until the dying moments, Lewandowski stole the show once again when he latched onto a rebound inside the box and flicked it into the net with his shoulder in the 87th minute, scoring the killer winner for Barça to secure a 2-1 victory.

Lewandowski’s goal against Atlético came just hours after Moriki’s strike against Real Madrid.

Consequently, in less than 24 hours, Muriki went from tears of disappointment with Kosovo to tears of joy at a historic goal that dashed Real Madrid’s hopes and boosted his team’s chances of survival, whilst Lewandowski turned the page on Poland’s play-off heartbreak with a goal that could prove a decisive step in Barcelona’s quest to defend their title.

In this way, La Liga served as a ‘recovery clinic’ for two strikers who had emerged shattered from the World Cup play-offs.

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