FC Barcelona redoes the cherry by crushing Mallorca

Victory was imperative tonight. With only one small point taken from the last nine possible in La Liga, FC Barcelona had to win to ward off this scent of crisis which was beginning to settle over the Catalan capital. Opposite, a tough rival: Mallorca. The Balearic team is one of the good surprises of the season in Spain and was in sixth place in the standings at the start of the game. For this match, Hans Flick made a strong choice up front: Robert Lewandowski was left to rest, on the bench, and Ferran Torres took his place up front. Otherwise, it was rather classic, with a Raphinha-Olmo-Lamine Yamal trio behind him, and a Casado-Pedri duo in the midfield.

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Very quickly, Barça displayed a resolutely offensive face. We felt that the Blaugranas wanted to strike hard quite quickly. And very quickly, Ferran Torres would restore the confidence in his trainer. Taking advantage of a huge error by the Mallorca defense, with a clearance from Mojica pushed back by a teammate, the former Valencia and City player only had to push the ball deep to open the score (0-1, 12th). Thanks to this nice helping hand from the Islanders, Barça was in front and generally did well in their match, dominating Jagoba Arrasate's team without too many complications. Ferran Torres was even close to the double, but this time, Leo Roman intervened well (19th). Little by little, Mallorca began to show its teeth, increasing its intensity and preventing the Barcelonans from developing their game, while approaching Iñaki Peña's goal on several occasions.

Second prolific period

The match became choppy, with fouls and technical errors on each side, entering after the half hour of play into a dynamic where there was no longer any real dominance or control over the ball. Even if the Catalans were ahead in the score, we were a long way from seeing this fluid and dangerous team that we still saw a few weeks ago. Worse, Pedri's squad was going to be picked cold before the break. On a quick transition, Maffeo appeared in the Catalan area and shifted perfectly for Muriqi who only had to propel the leather into the back of the net with the flat of his foot (1-1, 43rd). Behind, Lamine Yamal still missed a big opportunity to put the Catalans back in front. Worrying parity score for Barça at the break therefore. Returning from the locker room, the Blaugranas went on the attack again, and Leo Roman made a good save on a free kick from Raphinha (52nd).

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Barça would, however, benefit from another boost from Mallorca's defense. This time, Mojica cut down Lamine Yamal in the area. Raphinha was responsible for converting the penalty, with an unstoppable missile for Roman who had started on the right side (1-2, 56th). But behind, the Catalans were not safe and the Mallorcans knew how to be dangerous when they stepped on the accelerator. Only this time they weren't going to tremble and were going to unfold. Lamine Yamal was going to deliver a love ball with the outside of his foot for Raphinha in the area, and the Brazilian, like a fox, crucified Roman (1-3, 74th). Behind, De Jong, freshly entered, signed the fourth after another good ball distilled by Lamine Yamal at the start of the action (1-4, 79th). Pau Victor also joined the party by signing the fifth, after a low cross from De Jong (1-5, 84th). Highlight of the show. A success which allows us to breathe, to ward off this threat of crisis and to regain a four-point lead over Real Madrid, who still have two games less now.

Find the La Liga standings here.