By Abubakar Ojima-ojo
La Liga champions Barcelona kicked off their title defence with a comfortable 3-0 victory on the road, handing debuts to some of their top summer signings in the game.
One of the biggest stories of the summer was Marcus Rashford’s loan switch from Manchester United to Barcelona. The English forward, however, had to wait for his chance, starting on the bench, while fellow new signing Joan Garcia was handed his debut in goal.
Barcelona wasted little time stamping authority, striking in the ninth minute, as Lamine Yamal lit up the right wing with a dazzling run before whipping in a cross that Raphinha finished, a reminder of the attacking partnership that fired the Blaugrana to glory last season.
Mallorca’s night quickly unravelled, as Manu Morlanes saw red after two reckless bookings in rapid succession, leaving his side a man down, but things got even worse just minutes later. With a Mallorca defender down, play continued, and Ferran Torres rifled home from the edge of the box in the 34th minute, doubling Barca’s advantage amidst loud protests from the home fans.
The misery deepened before half-time when Vedat Muriqi was dismissed for a dangerous high boot following a VAR review. Down to nine men, Mallorca were left simply clinging on, while Barcelona controlled possession without adding further goals.
In the second half, Hansi Flick’s men kept probing but rarely had to leave second gear. The biggest talking point came in the 69th minute, when Rashford was introduced for his much-anticipated La Liga debut.
However, with the game looking done and dusted, Yamal still looked to get on the scoresheet, and he did so in stoppage time, cutting in from the right to curl in a trademarkgoal, sealing a perfect night for Barcelona.
