Don’t let the 5-1 score fool you. This was a hard-fought victory for Barcelona against a brave Mallorca team that attacked relentlessly.

At half-time, with the game tied 1-1, the Barca fans held their breath, knowing that their opponents were the protagonists in the first 45 minutes. Something had to change.

That doesn’t mean that Hansi Flick made bad decisions in the starting eleven. It made sense to give Robert Lewandowski a break and give Ferran Torres the opportunity to prove himself as a backup striker.

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The return of Marc Casadó gave the team more confidence in building up the game. And you can understand why the manager was so keen to get Lamine Yamal and Dani Olmo back on the field to provide some danger.

However, things didn’t quite go according to plan, even though Ferran scored the opening goal early on.

What I saw was a front line struggling to apply pressure. And that led to many problems later on as Mallorca pounded on the door to break the offside trap. They finally got it just before half time.

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The big lesson for me is that many of these Barca players who have returned from injury are still not 100% fit and that is a problem considering the physical demands of Flick’s style of play.

Dani Olmo once again looked tied up and was unable to do much defensively, despite being involved in the first goal. Lamine Yamal also looked like a player who didn’t have the fitness to put Mallorca’s defense under pressure, especially in the first half. Combine that with Ferran Torres, who also just returned from injury, and you’re playing with fire.

The second half was a different story. From the opening whistle the intensity was greater and everything fell into place when Pau Víctor and Frenkie de Jong came on for Ferran and Dani Olmo.

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If Flick could have done anything better in this game, I think it would have been choosing Víctor as an attacking player instead of Ferran. The very first thing young Pau did when he came on was pressure. And when he does, he looks like a pro, bending his runs and causing confusion for an opponent whose first choice is to build from defense.

Even Frenkie showed signs of his old self, arriving late and making himself a threat in the future.

In short: Flick needs players on the field who are capable of running the race. It is particularly important to get this contribution from the strikers.

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While Robert Lewandowski was sitting, Ferran brought some energy with him, but he seemed a little lost in his movements and didn’t seem to quite get into the final gear.

In the end the class won. And it was once again delivered by Lamine Yamal.

But Lamine also has to play the game in his team’s favor in order to make these magical moments more likely. The hard work of his teammates in the second half helped.

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Going forward, I’m starting to think that Barcelona’s ability to go the distance in La Liga will depend on the strikers getting fully fit and perhaps adding some depth with the wings, be it from La Masia or in the winter market.

Raphinha has been an iron man and perhaps Spain’s best player this season, but you can’t expect him to play every minute of every game.

What we saw on Tuesday is once again the potential of Hansi Flick’s Barcelona.

They have the talent, but their ability to consistently generate intensity from game to game will be the most important variable of all.