FC Barcelona has suffered an expensive loss of points in LaLiga. Xavi’s team erased a deficit twice on Tuesday evening when they visited Real Mallorca, but were unable to take home the three points: 2-2. Frenkie de Jong had to miss the match due to an injury. Due to the division of points, Barcelona fails to open a gap with Real Madrid, which lost the city derby to Atlético (3-1) last weekend.
Xavi gave a number of basic players a rest and let Robert Lewandowski, Andreas Christensen and Jules Koundé, among others, start on the bench. They saw that the home team took the lead after just eight minutes of play. A play-in pass from Ter Stegen was not understood by Oriol Romeu, after which the low-flyer from LaLiga took over and scored in two instances via Vedat Muriqi. A bad sign for Barcelona, as Mallorca last lost a match in which they took the lead in July 2020.
??????, ??????, ??????! ?? Ter Stegen makes a mistake and in the end it is Vedat Muriqi who scores the ball for 1-0 ??#ZiggoSport #LaLiga #RCDMallorcaBarça pic.twitter.com/wZjgMgjt3C
— Ziggo Sport Voetbal (@ZS_Voetbal) September 26, 2023
Barcelona offered very little in return in the first half, but still leveled the score just before half time. After a scramble, the ball fell at Raphinha’s feet, after which the Brazilian turned to his left and took a nice shot into the left corner out of reach of goalkeeper Predrag Rajkovic. However, the visitors could not enjoy the equal score for very long, as Mallorca took the lead for the second time just three minutes later. Abdon Prats reached the ball before the again hesitant Ter Stegen: 2-1.
Xavi initially attempted to turn the game around without any substitutions at the start of the second half, but decided to intervene after just under an hour of play by bringing on Lewandowski for Ferran Torres. João Félix had just produced a fiery shot that exploded on the outside of the post. Another substitute, Lamine Yamal, shouted for a penalty half a minute after coming on after a foul by Jose Copete. Referee Alejandro Muñiz Ruiz awarded the penalty, but it was called back by the VAR.
C?A?N?C?E?L?O? ? ????????????????! ?? The Brazilian leveled Barça before half time: 1-1 ??#ZiggoSport #LaLiga #RCDMallorcaBarça pic.twitter.com/DwQsZgWs80
— Ziggo Sport Voetbal (@ZS_Voetbal) September 26, 2023
Barça did not leave it at that and came alongside again fifteen minutes before the end. Fermin Lopez, who had entered the line at the same time as Yamal, was in the right place after a nice switch from Lewandowski to convert Raphinha’s cross into a goal. The midfielder was inside the lines for the second time in a competition match. In the seven minutes of injury time that followed, both teams failed to score the winning goal.