It was a sunny Sunday afternoon with a superb atmosphere in the stands at La Rosaleda, where 29,264 fans were in attendance. Compared with the previous game at the Bernabéu, Juanfran Funes made four changes to his starting-11, bringing in Salinas, Martínez, Dani Lorenzo and Cruz for Puga, Izan Merino, Rafa and Joaquín.
Málaga could have taken the lead early on. Chupe’s 9th-minute penalty was saved by Levante goalkeeper Ryan, while Larrubia came close 10 minutes later with a shot that narrowly missed the right-hand post. Dela produced Levante’s first chance in the 24th minute with a direct free-kick.
Around the half-hour mark, just before the now-traditional hydration break, Martínez sent two dangerous corners into the box from the right. Chupe fired straight at Ryan on the counter in the 38th minute. The teams went into the break level at 0-0.
After the restart, Chupe again went in search of a goal but was unable to find the target in minute 46. Recio, pushing forward, unleashed a powerful long-range effort that Ryan gathered in the 52nd minute. Levante came close to breaking the deadlock in the 58th minute, but Alfonso Herrero produced a fantastic save to keep Málaga level.
Joaquín and Izan Merino then replaced Cruz and Martínez (59’). Shortly afterwards, Funes made another double substitution, bringing on Puga and Ramón for Rafita and Dani Lorenzo, both of whom had been booked (67’). Málaga continued to push forward, using their possession to search for a winning goal, while Levante sat deep and remained well organised defensively.
After the second hydration break (75’), Swedish international Jens Cajuste made his debut for Málaga, replacing Carlos Dotor in minute 86. The closing stages followed the same pattern, with neither side able to break the impasse as the game ended 0-0. It was Málaga CF’s second point of the 2026/27 LALIGA EA SPORTS campaign.
