Juande Ramos' men were a long way from their best at Son Moix but they dug in despite the dismissal of Serbia defender Ivica Dragutinovic with 17 minutes to go.

The stalemate was replicated in the games involving Barcelona and Real Madrid to leave Sevilla still two points adrift of the top two heading into the final weekend of the season.

Next week, Sevilla host Villarreal, Madrid meet Mallorca at the Bernabeu while Barca go to already-relegated Gimnastic Tarragona.

It promises to be a thrilling finish although the equation could have been completely different had Sevilla hit top gear in the Balearic Islands.

The visitors were second best for much of the contest, however, although they did up the tempo as the game neared its conclusion.

Sevilla looked nervous early on and it was Mallorca who bossed the opening minutes.

Fernando Varela was allowed time and space to get in two shots, the first from 35 yards flying over the bar and the second, from much closer, drifting wide of the left upright.

Sevilla responded with a long-range shot from Luis Fabiano while Daniel Alves also tried his luck from 25 yards with the ball flying straight into the midriff of home keeper Miguel Moya.

Mid-table Mallorca were still looking the more likely side to open the scoring and Sevilla stopper Andres Palop had to be alert to keep out an Ariel Ibagaza effort after 26 minutes.

Juan Arango fired in two long-rangers before the home side squandered the best chance of the half a minute before the break.

Varela whipped in a cross which Victor reached but he could only direct the ball straight into the arms of Palop.

The Balearic Islanders continued to dominate the second half with Sevilla still struggling to put together any kind of attacking threat.

Varela saw a stinging drive parried by Palop while the 33-year-old keeper distinguished himself again on the hour mark to keep out an Ibagaza shot.

Ramos' men did finally carve out a chance of note after 62 minutes when Ernesto Chevanton's centre was met by Antonio Puerta but his shot was well blocked by Moya with his feet.

At least the opportunity gave Sevilla a degree of momentum.

And they came close again seven minutes later with Enzo Maresca powering in a header which was well gathered by Moya.

Sevilla suffered a major setback after 73 minutes when Dragutinovic was dismissed for bringing down Jonas Gutierrez when the Argentinian was in full flight.

Gutierrez's subsequent free-kick was straight at Palop.

The 10 men of Sevilla at least showed the kind of urgency that had been lacking early on in the game as they poured forward in search of a vital goal.

Chevanton shot wide while another chance for the Uruguayan resulted in a smart save from the impressive Moya.

The players in front of Moya were also playing their part, Sergio Ballesteros bravely throwing himself in front of a Luis Fabiano shot.

Sevilla had two chances late on but Maresca's shot was off-target while Christian Poulsen's 89th-minute header flashed wide.