FC Barcelona will remain top of the Liga table following a comfortable 3-0 win over RCD Mallorca on Saturday. The game was tight enough for the first half hour or so, but the Catalans soon started imposing their superiority and goals from Robert Lewandowski, Lamine Yamal and Marc Bernal, his first ever for the club, secured another three points for the impressive collection.
Second placed Real Madrid are away to Valencia tomorrow, but the best they can hope for is to get back to within a point of a Barça team that is showing very little sign of letting up in the title chase.
Today’s was yet another solid all-round performance in which Barça were simply good too for their opponent, and things are starting to look very positive indeed as we edge our way into the business end of the season.
Lewandowski opener
Barça took half an hour to break the deadlock, and once again it was Lewandowski and his innate knack of always being in the right place at the right time who they had to thank. Barça’s most dangerous player of the first half, Marcus Rashford, had taken the initial shot and the Pole was onto the rebound to tuck the ball past visiting keeper Leo Román.
It's a goal that moves Lewy into the top 15 all-time goalscorers for FC Barcelona.
They hadn't had it all their way until that point. Finding gaps in Mallorca’s tightly packed defence was no simple mission, and the islanders were causing no end of difficulties on the counter. Former blaugrana Jan Virgili and prolific Albanian goalscorer Vedat Muriqi were a constant threat, hitting the post at one point and testing Joan García at others.
Yamal beauty
But Barça always looked in control of things. Lamine Yamal narrowly failed to connect with what was otherwise a certain goal, Marc Casadó’s thunderbolt rattled back off the crossbar and rather than push for an equaliser, Mallorca spent most of their time desperately trying to avoid conceding another.
But there was nothing they could do stop a moment of magic from Lamine. Unmarked at a corner but not in a position from which anyone would normally be able to score, we were once again reminded that there’s nothing normal about this teenager. He unleashed the perfect strike from well outside the area, and that was 2-0 and his fifth goal in five consecutive games. Talk about form!
Bernal finishes things off
As far as the result was concerned, there was nothing more to see. There was barely a moment went Mallorca crossed the halfway line, and the one time Antonio Sánchez did, Joan García produced a fine save.
Barça were passing the ball around with ease and if the third goal didn’t come earlier, it was because there was no urgent need of it.
But when it did come… wow! Marc Bernal was sent through on a solo run through to goal, and what a run it was. Dribbling away from two defenders, the 18-year-old twisted into position to shoot with his preferred left foot, and that was his first ever senior goal.
With Barça 3-0 up, Hansi Flick finally decided it was time to give young Tommy Marqués the chance. After a number of first team call-ups, the youngster got his first minutes on pitch as he joined fellow Masia graduates Bernal and Casadó in midfield.
Yet another sign that Barça don't just do things beautifully, but they do it with homegrown talent. A very, very heart-warming day, and three more points to add to the Liga tally. Força Barça!