Barcelona edge past Mallorca to extend La Liga advantage

Barcelona have made it yet another victory in La Liga after they defeated Mallorca 1-0 at the Estadi Olimpic Lluis Companys in Montjuic.

Hansi Flick opted to make significant changes ahead of Saturday’s Copa del Rey final against Real Madrid, with the likes of Hector Fort, Eric Garcia and even Ansu Fati getting a start to allow regular starters a well-earned rest. And these alterations did have an effect as Barcelona struggled to break down a resilient Mallorca side in the first half.

They did have a fair few chances, but a combination of goalkeeper Leo Roman and the Mallorca defence ensured that it stayed at 0-0 until the half time whistle was blown by referee Miguel Angel Ortiz Arias.

Fortunately for Barcelona, they managed to find the breakthrough less than a minute into the second period. From the right, Eric played a pass into Dani Olmo, who turned inside the penalty area before curling the ball into the far corner and out of the reach of Roman.

The pressure was released from Barcelona at that point, and they were able to see the match out. They did have several chances to make it 2-0, but the likes of Fati, Lamine Yamal and Pau Victor were all denied by Roman, who delivered a fantastic performance in the Mallorca goal.

The result sees Barcelona move seven points clear at the top of the La Liga standings, although that gap will go back to four if Real Madrid were to defeat Getafe on Wednesday. Nevertheless, it is another step towards the title for Flick’s side, who can now look forward to this week’s Copa del Rey final at La Cartuja against their El Clasico rivals.