Barcelona returned to winning ways in LaLiga after edging Mallorca 1-0 on Friday evening.
LaLiga
Result: Barcelona 1-0 Real Mallorca
Date: 08 March 2024
Venue: Estadi Olímpic Lluís Companys (Barcelona)
Barca made four changes to the side that drew with Athletic Bilbao as Robert Lewandowski dropped to the bench while Frenkie de Jong and Pedri picked up injuries in that game and with Ronald Araujo suspended, in came Joao Felix, Lamine Yamal, Marc Guiu and Inigo Martinez.Blaugrana were all over Mallorca in the early stages and their pressure finally paid off on 23 minutes after they were awarded a penalty for a clip on Raphinha in the box. However, IIkay Gundogan's spot-kick was saved by goalkeeper Predrag Rajkovic.
The game opened up after that and Felix had good opportunity ten minutes before the interval after he cut inside the box to curl a shot at goal but his effort missed narrowly wide.
Xavi was forced to make a change just after that as Raphinha could not continue after the initial tackle on his ankle in the penalty incident and he was replaced by Fermin Lopez as the first stanza ended without goals.
Mallorca were far more attacking coming from the break but they nearly went behind just before the hour-mark after Yamal rattled the crossbar with a powerful shot.
With the game opening up once more, on 66 minutes Xavi eventually brought on Lewandowski in place of Guiu.
The Polish striker's first contribution resulted into an opener for Barca with 17 minutes to go after he setup Yamal to curl a shot into the top corner.
Blaugrana killed the momentum of the game by knocking the ball around in the closing stages, as they denied Mallorca possession for extended periods.
Barca were still the most threatening side in the dying minutes as they eventually scraped a win that took them up to second on the log, five points behind leaders Real Madrid, although they've played an extra game.
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