Preview: Mallorca vs Barcelona – prediction, team news

Barcelona’s defence of their La Liga title will begin on Saturday evening, with the Catalan giants making the trip to Estadi Mallorca Son Moix to tackle Mallorca on the opening weekend of the new campaign.

Hansi Flick’s side were the best team in Spain last season and are once again title favourites this term, while Mallorca will be bidding to push for the European spots in 2024-25, having finished 10th last season.

Match preview

Mallorca won 13, drew nine and lost 16 of their 38 La Liga matches last season, with a total of 48 points leaving them in 10th spot in the table, only four points off eighth-placed Rayo Vallecano, who qualified for Europe.

The Pirates are in their fifth straight season at this level, and a push for Europe will be on the agenda in the new campaign, especially with the addition of the highly-rated Pablo Torre from Barcelona.

Jagoba Arrasate’s side have also brought in Lucas Bergstrom and Mateo Joseph during this summer’s transfer window, while their major exits have been Jose Copete, Siebe Van der Heyden and Robert Navarro.

Mallorca played a lot of football during pre-season, taking to the field on six occasions, recording three wins in the process, including their last two friendlies against Poblense and Hamburger SV.

The Pirates have struggled enormously in their recent meetings with Barcelona, though, losing 14 of the last 15 La Liga matches between the two sides, with their last success in this fixture coming back in 2009.

Last season, Barcelona were 5-1 winners in this fixture, and the Catalan outfit will be desperate to start their 2025-26 La Liga campaign with a victory, with their main challengers Real Madrid not in action until Tuesday night.

Barcelona’s absence from the 2025 Club World Cup has allowed them to have a period of rest before taking to the field for four friendlies, and they were victorious in all of them, including a 5-0 success over Como in the Joan Gamper Trophy.

The Catalan giants have made three signings during this summer’s transfer window, boosting their squad with the arrivals of Joan Garcia and Marcus Rashford, while Roony Bardghji has also joined from Copenhagen.

Barcelona had an excellent 2024-25 campaign under Hansi Flick, winning a La Liga and Copa del Rey double, while they also triumphed in the Spanish Super Cup, making it three trophies for the season.

The Catalan team scored over 100 goals in Spain’s top flight last season, and Lamine Yamal is again expected to carry the fight for the club, with the Spain international already one of the best players in the world at the age of 18.

Mallorca pre-season form:

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Barcelona pre-season form:

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Team News

Mallorca are expected to be without the services of Samu Costa through injury, but the home side are otherwise in excellent shape, so head coach Arrasate has a number of big calls to make in terms of his selection.

Vedat Muriqi is expected to be given the nod in the final third of the field, while there is set to be a debut for Torre, with the 22-year-old in line to face his former club.

Sergi Darder and Takuma Asano are set to feature in the forward areas, while Manu Morlanes and Omar Mascarell are expected to operate in the middle of midfield.

As for Barcelona, Marc-Andre ter Stegen is out with a long-term back injury, while Dani Olmo and Robert Lewandowski are also major doubts for the reigning champions.

As it stands, Joan Garcia, Marcus Rashford, Bardghji, Gerard Martin, Marc Bernal and Wojciech Szczesny have not been registered, but that is expected to change before the squad is announced.

Garcia’s registration is the priority, and the Spaniard is in line to make his debut between the sticks, while Fermin Lopez and Ferran Torres are both expected to be named in the starting side.

Mallorca possible starting lineup:

Roman; Morey, Raillo, Valjent, Mojica; Morlanes, Mascarell; Asano, Darder, Torre; Muriqi

Barcelona possible starting lineup:

Garcia; Kounde, Araujo, Cubarsi, Balde; Pedri, De Jong; Yamal, Fermin, Raphinha; Torres

We say: Mallorca 1-3 Barcelona

Mallorca are capable of making this a tricky match for Barcelona, and the home side have enough quality to get their name on the scoresheet, but we are expecting the Catalan giants to ultimately have too much for their opponents.

For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.

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