Barcelona 3 - Real Mallorca 0
Despite losing 3-0 to the mighty Barcelona on Saturday afternoon, the best team in the first half were Real Mallorca, who arrived at the Spotify Camp Nou with a clear game plan. A five-man defence stopped Barcelona from attacking down the wings, as Mallorca capitalised on the pace of two ex-Barcelona players, Virgili and the rejuvenated Pablo Torre. He at last showed a close copy of the player Mallorca signed last summer.
The Palma side looked up for a fight in the first half with Muriqi inches away from putting the islanders ahead. Virgili then had a shot on target that was saved by Barcelona’s goalkeeper Juan Garcia. For ten minutes we had the Catalan side on the back foot but somehow I knew it wouldn’t last.
As expected, Barcelona took the lead in the 29th minute through Robert Lewandowski. He initially looked offside but the ball rebounded off David Lopez with Fermin’s intervention, making the resulting goal legal. That strike from the Polish predator undid all of Mallorca’s early endeavours. Once Barcelona scored, the writing looked on the wall, as once again they waited for the opportunity to strike and possessed so much quality in attack. After that goal, Mallorca hung on until half time, as Barcelona began to wake up.
Into the second half and the league champions came at us in waves as they upped the ante. Barcelona should have had a penalty just after half time when Lamine looked to be felled in the area. Then a deflection by our centre back David Lopez hit the bar, which stats showed was the 23rd time the Catalans have hit the goal frame this season.
In the 61st minute came one of the goals of the season. Yamal took aim from distance and buried a “howitzer” shot into the bottom corner to double Barça’s lead. The onslaught continued and Mallorca began to chase shadows as we withdrew into our penalty area, trying to repel all boarders. With the game effectively over, another of Barcelona’s young academy protégés, Marc Bernal, in a breakaway ended the match as a contest with another stunning goal - game over. One of our substitutes, Antonio Sanchez, had a couple of half hit shots which didn’t worry Spain’s No. 1 goalkeeper Garcia. After a flurry of changes by both coaches, the referee put us out of our misery by only adding on two minutes.
Mallorca started well but faded in the second half against a brilliant football team. All we can do now is turn the page and move on, as Mallorca were left to lick their wounds and think about another tough opponent next Sunday night at 9pm when Betis and their legions of fans come to the Son Moix.
PS: Mallorca’s out-on-loan misfit striker Cyle Larin, now at Championship side Southampton, scored “The Saints’” only goal from a header in a 1-0 win against Watford – you couldn’t make it up!