Text size

ADDED Raphinha Quotes Image

Raphinha and Lamine Yamal led Barcelona to a first win in four La Liga games as they beat Mallorca 5-1 on Tuesday.

The comprehensive victory moves the Catalans to 37 points at the top of the table, four ahead of second-placed Real Madrid but with two games to spare.

Carlo Ancelotti’s Spanish and European champions will have a chance to cut that lead to one point when they travel to Athletic Bilbao on Wednesday.

Mallorca remains sixth in La Liga and is still two points behind Bilbao in last place in the Champions League.

Ferran Torres gave Barcelona the lead before Vedat Muriqi equalized to ensure the sides were level at the end of a balanced first half.

Raphinha and Yamal then caused a stir in the second half as the away side raged and the Brazilian scored a brace, followed by goals from Frenkie de Jong and Pau Victor.

“We knew how important it was to win again. Something was missing in the last three games. Today we were good, it wasn’t our best game, but the win was the most important thing,” Barcelona captain Raphinha told Movistar.

Barcelona were boosted by the return of teenage star Yamal, who started after recovering from an ankle injury.

Hansi Flick’s side dropped points in the two league games Yamal missed and also lost in their last home game against Las Palmas when he was only fit enough to start on the bench.

The hosts gave Barca the lead in the 12th minute when panicked defending led to Torres offering a golden chance when there appeared to be no danger.

As a trio of Mallorcan defenders got the ball back to their goalkeeper, full-back Johan Mojica suddenly decided to swat it away, but the ball flung him straight into Antonio Raillo, and it landed perfectly at the feet of the Barcelona striker, who parried it away for the opening goal succeeded duly.

The Catalans’ high defensive line caught Mallorca several times as they tried to push their attackers over the goal line with passes.

However, Mallorca began to build pressure on Barcelona, ​​although the visitors continued to threaten on the counterattack with their fleet-footed attacking quartet of Yamal, Dani Olmo, Raphinha and Torres.

A second goal in the game seemed not far away for either side, and the hosts fell in the 43rd minute.

Inigo Martinez stood deeper than the rest of the Barcelona line and Pablo Maffeo timed his run perfectly to Sergi Darder’s pass before rolling the ball to Muriqi to slurp it into the open net.

Another defensive error almost put the visitors back in the lead just before half-time, but goalkeeper Leo Roman saved Raillo from his poor return header by denying Raphinha one-on-one.

The Mallorca goalkeeper again thwarted the Brazilian at the start of the second period, blocking a fizzing free-kick from close range.

But Raphinha finally had third luck in his duel with Roman when he missed a penalty just out of the Spaniard’s reach in the 56th minute.

The sheer pace of the returning Yamal earned the penalty as he raced towards Olmo’s through ball before being brought down by Mojica in the box.

Barcelona struggled with creativity in Yamal’s absence and the 17-year-old showed his brilliance again soon after when a clever backheel shot created a chance out of nowhere until Pedri’s snapshot was blocked.

Raphinha made the game safe for Barcelona with 14 minutes left when he fired home a great cross from Yamal.

“I’m having my best moment, but I don’t want to stop. I want to do a lot more for this success. It’s a club that I love very much. Everything I can give on the pitch, I will give,” said Raphinha.

Yamal, winner of Euro 2024, repeated the trick five minutes later, this time finding the forward run of Victor, whose pass was deflected across the goal, but only to the onrushing De Jong, who finished confidently.

De Jong then turned provider in the final ten minutes as he set up 23-year-old substitute Victor to score.

Yamal could have rounded off an excellent performance in the second half, but the defiant Roman was able to parry his botched finish towards the end.

bur-nf/iwd/jc