Spanish football: no gift for Real (video)

During midweek in the Spanish league, you can learn about the main event, the goal in the match, and the situation in the league table through this article.

La Liga. Round 33
Barcelona — Mallorca 1:0
Goal: Olmo (46)
Barcelona: Szczesny, Garcia, Araujo, Martinez, Fort (Martin, 77), Gavi, Pedri, Yamal (De Jong, 87), Olmo (Lopez, 62), Fati (Raphinha, 62), Torres (Victor, 77)
Mallorca: Roman, Morey, Valjent, Raillo, Copete, Mojica (Lato, 81), Joseda (Valeri, 81), Mascarell (Sallas, 86), Costa (Domenech, 66), Darder, Larin (Prats, 86)
Booking: Costa (25)

In recent weeks, Real had threatened to boycott matches due to a packed calendar. Now the Barcelona management has also expressed frustration, and even the usually reserved Hansi Flick criticized the La Liga schedulers. His team lost Balde to injury, and now Lewandowski is out too. The Polish striker will miss the Spanish Cup final against Real and both Champions League semifinals against Inter.

On Tuesday night, against a struggling Mallorca side that hasn’t won in Catalonia for 17 years, Barcelona rotated their lineup. Eric Garcia, Fort, and even Ansu Fati started in defense. This trio had played a combined 30+ minutes in 2024. Fati hadn’t started a match since October 20 last year. His poor finishing in the first half is due to lack of match practice. Playing as a left winger, he notably missed a golden chance before the break.

Barcelona’s other players also failed to convert chances — the team had 24 first-half shots (5 on target) but couldn’t score. Opta, which tracks La Liga since 2003, had never recorded a scoreless first half after so many shots. But right after the break, Dani Olmo scored with a low shot between defenders into the far post. He became Barça’s fifth player this season to score 10+ goals, after Raphinha, Lewandowski, Yamal, and Ferran Torres.

The goal forced Mallorca to abandon their deep 5-4-1 defense. Several of their attacks showed Barça’s aerial weaknesses. Arrasate’s team won several aerial duels in the box but didn’t seriously threaten. Yamal could’ve sealed the game but failed in a one-on-one — either he overestimated himself or underestimated Roman, who wasn’t fooled by his trick.

In the second half, Barça still dominated shots — 16:4 (on target 8:0), xG 1.47 vs 0.25. Fans stayed anxious until the end, but the Catalans held on to win 1:0. The gap to Real increased to 7 points, at least temporarily. Flick’s men are now unbeaten in 14 games (+12=2) — their best run in three years. The title is getting closer.