Raphinha and Lamine Yamal powered Barcelona’s return to successful methods, main the Catalan giants to a commanding 5-1 victory over Mallorca on Tuesday – their first triumph in 4 La Liga matches.
The win lifts Barca to 37 factors, extending their lead on the prime of the desk to 4 over second-placed Real Madrid, although they’ve performed two extra video games.
Real Madrid, underneath Carlo Ancelotti, have an opportunity to trim the hole to 1 level on Wednesday once they face Athletic Bilbao.
Mallorca stay sixth, two factors shy of Bilbao and the coveted last Champions League berth.
Ferran Torres opened the scoring for Barcelona, however Vedat Muriqi equalized to make sure a tightly contested first half ended stage earlier than Barca’s dominance took over.
Raphinha and Yamal lit up the second half because the guests ran riot. The Brazilian scored twice, with Frenkie de Jong and Pau Victor additionally discovering the online.
“We knew how important it was to win again. In the last three games, something has been missing. Today we were good. It wasn’t our best game, but winning was the most important thing,” Barcelona captain Raphinha instructed Movistar.
Barcelona have been boosted by the return of teenage starlet Yamal, who began the match after recovering from an ankle downside.
Hansi Flick’s facet dropped factors within the two league outings Yamal missed and suffered a house defeat to Las Palmas when he was solely match sufficient to begin on the bench.
The hosts gifted Barca the lead within the twelfth minute when panicked defending turned a seemingly innocent scenario into catastrophe.
As a trio of Mallorca defenders shepherded the ball again to their goalkeeper, full-back Johan Mojica tried a clearance however smashed the ball into Antonio Raillo.
The deflection fell completely for Torres, who calmly stroked dwelling the opener.
Barcelona’s excessive line of defense incessantly caught Mallorca out because the hosts struggled to play lengthy passes to their forwards.
Mallorca started to construct strain, although Barca remained harmful on the counterattack with the tempo of Yamal, Dani Olmo, Raphinha and Torres.
A second purpose appeared imminent for both facet, and it got here for Mallorca within the forty third minute. Inigo Martinez dropped deeper than the remainder of Barcelona’s again line, permitting Pablo Maffeo to time his run completely onto Sergi Darder’s go. Maffeo squared the ball for Muriqi, who tapped into an open web.
‘Give everything’
Another defensive lapse almost restored Barcelona’s lead earlier than halftime, however goalkeeper Leo Roman bailed out Raillo’s poor again header by denying Raphinha in a one-on-one.
Román thwarted the Brazilian once more early within the second half, punching away a strong free kick. However, Raphinha lastly broke by means of within the 56th minute, changing a penalty simply past Román’s attain.
Yamal earned the spot kick along with his tempo, sprinting onto Olmo’s by means of ball earlier than being introduced down by Mojica within the field.
Barcelona had struggled creatively throughout Yamal’s absence, however the 17-year-old showcased his brilliance once more moments later with a intelligent backheel to arrange an opportunity for Pedri, whose shot was blocked.
Raphinha made the sport secure within the 76th minute, ending a surprising outside-of-the-foot cross from Yamal.
“I’m living my best moment, but I don’t want to stop here. I want to do much more for this crest. It’s a club I love enormously. Everything I can give on the pitch, I’ll give,” Raphinha stated.
Euro 2024 winner Yamal repeated the trick 5 minutes later, organising Victor, whose cross was deflected into De Jong’s path for a simple end.
De Jong turned supplier within the closing levels, squaring for Victor so as to add Barca’s fifth.
Yamal almost capped a spectacular efficiency, however Román denied his late chipped effort to stop additional injury.
Source: www.dailysabah.com