PREVIEW | FC Barcelona v Mallorca
Having made their way safely through to the semifinals of the Copa del Rey after beating second division Albacete 2-1 on Tuesday and having learned on Friday that they'll be facing Atlético Madrid, attention at FC Barcelona switches back to La Liga and a 4.15pm CET kick-off against RCD Mallorca at Spotify Camp Nou.
The defending champions go into the game as leaders on 55 points, but just one ahead of Real Madrid, who got out of a tight squeeze last Sunday with a last minute penalty to beat Rayo Vallecano 2-1.
It seems extraordinary that the gap is so tight after Barça have strung together an amazing run of 11 wins in their last 12 games, the 2-1 defeat at Real Sociedad the only blip in what has been a perfect spell in four different competitions since the loss to Chelsea back in November.
But tight it is, and if Barça don't deliver against Mallorca, los blancos will have the chance to move above them when they face Valencia away on Sunday. The job is too make sure that doesn't happen.
Favourable history
But at least judging by their past record in this fixture, Barça should be able to bring yet more joys to their fans when they entertain the Balearic Islanders. They are on a tremendous run of 19 games without defeat to Mallorca in the league (17 wins and two draws), a streak going all the way back to May 2009 and a defeat that meant little because Pep Guardiola's side had already sewn up the title by then and were far more concerned with their forthcoming Champions League Final at Wembley.
When playing at home, Barça have won seven out of seven, keeping clean sheets on all but two of those occasions. And when the two teams met on the first day of the current season at Son Moix, Barça were comfortable 3-0 winners, with first half goals from Raphinha and Ferran Torres, before Lamine Yamal finished the job in the closing minutes.
Mallorca hitting form
However, previous triumphs will matter for little when the sides take to the field for an earlier start than normal. The islanders are currently fourteenth in the table, but they are moving in the right direction after winning two of their last three matches, 3-2 against Athletic Club and 4-1 against Sevilla, although in between those games they suffered a crushing 3-0 reverse at Atlético Madrid.
Indeed, it's on trips to the mainland that things have gone especially wrong under Basque manager Jagoba Arrasate. Mallorca have only one game on the road this season, and will know that they face a tough challenge reversing that trend against a side in such rampant form as Barça.
Muriqi, the main threat
The name standing head and shoulders above all others at Mallorca is Vedat Muriqi. With 15 goals, the Kosovan striker is second in the overall ranking this season, and he also has a habit of producing the goods against Barça. In four previous meetings, the 31-year-old has scored two goals and set up one.
There are Barça connections in the visiting squad. Mateu Morey was in the Barça team that won the UEFA Youth League in 2018, winger Jan Virgili was at Barça Atlètic last season, while Pablo Torre particularly requires no introduction. The attacking midfielder played 18 games for Barça's first team in the 2022-23 season.
Team news
Gavi, Andreas Christensen and Pedri remain absent for FC Barcelona, while Raphinha was left out of the Copa del Rey squad as a precautionary measure after taking a knock. The original verdict was just one week out for the in-form Brazilian, but in his pre-game press conference, coach Hansi Flick made it sound highly unlikely that we'll see him on the pitch tomorrow.
Mallorca, who have the slight advantage of having a full week to prepare, are also in the enviable position of having a near-complete squad available. The only doubt concerns Albanian centre-back Marash Kumbulla, but after a fortnight on the side-lines the loanee from Roma may be ready to return for this one.