Real Mallorca vs Barcelona live online: Muriqi goal, first half, score ...
Peeep peeep peeep! Alejandro Muñiz Ruiz blows for half time at Son Moix, where Mallorca have the lead.
William AllenPosted at: 16:26EDT26/09/2023
With González giving chase, Balde and Martínez crash into each other on the right-hand side of the Barça box, and it's out for a Mallorca corner.
Rodríguez delivers onto Muriqi's head, but he can't direct the ball towards one of the corners! Ter Stegen grabs hold.
William AllenPosted at: 16:24EDT26/09/2023
Just when it seemed like Mallorca were hanging on until half time, the hosts go back ahead!
It's the most route-one of route-one goals. Rajkovic boots the ball up field, where Muriqi heads it on for Prats to chase. Prats gets to the ball before Ter Stegen, and prods it into the net! Crikey.
William AllenPosted at: 16:22EDT26/09/2023
Blimey, Barça have really come alive in attack. It's now Joao Félix's turn to go close to making it 2-1.
Gündogan threads a lovely pass into Raphinha's run to the right-hand byline, where the Brazilian cuts it back to the penalty spot. Joao Félix is waiting and fires low at goal, but Rajkovic gets a crucial hand to it!
William AllenPosted at: 16:20EDT26/09/2023
What a chance for Raphinha! It should be 2-1 to Barcelona.
Gavi nods the ball forward to Ferran, who turns it on into the path of Raphinha's run in behind the Mallorca backline. Raphinha scuttles through on Rajkovic, but his finish is very far from the quality of his strike a minute ago. He puts his foot through the ball and absolutely blazes it! A huge opportunity spurned.
Six minutes of time added on, by the way.
William AllenPosted at: 16:18EDT26/09/2023
Barça immediately push forward in search of a second. Cancelo crosses from the right, but his delivery is overhit. It runs out of the box and away.
William AllenPosted at: 16:18EDT26/09/2023
It's a fantastic strike from Raphinha, who has been Barcelona's best player in the first half.
Cancelo challenges for the ball on the corner of the Mallorca box, and it pops up to Raphinha, who is suddenly tearing in from the right wing. The Brazilian chests it down, steadies himself and drills a shot low into Rajkovic's far corner! It's a beaut of a goal.
William AllenPosted at: 16:15EDT26/09/2023
There's a real chance for Ferran! Gavi does very well to wriggle into room to slip a neat little ball into the forward's run into the Mallorca box, leaving him one on one with Rajkovic. Ferrran gets plenty behind his shot, but the goalkeeper saves!
William AllenPosted at: 16:11EDT26/09/2023
Muriqi goes close! Ah, but the flag was up.
A free-kick is swung in from the left right onto Muriqi's head, but he can't direct his effort goalwards, and it wouldn't have counted.
William AllenPosted at: 16:10EDT26/09/2023
Barcelona's Romeu becomes the first man to be booked, after catching Muriqi with a flailing arm as the pair jumped together in an aerial challenge.
William AllenPosted at: 16:07EDT26/09/2023
Maffeo is withdrawn, with Jaume Costa on in his stead.
William AllenPosted at: 16:05EDT26/09/2023
Oh dear, Maffeo is down and clutching the back of his thigh. He appears to have done his hammy. The pitchside microphones pick up some fairly colourful language from the Mallorca defender as he rather vocally expresses his annoyance.
William AllenPosted at: 16:05EDT26/09/2023
Moriqi joins Joselu in select scoring club
Football stats specialists Opta note that only Vedat Muriqi and Real Madrid's Joselu have managed to score against each of Barcelona, Madrid and Atlético since the start of the 2022/23 season. (Joselu was at Espanyol when he netted against Madrid, I'm sure you don't need me to clarify. His goals against Barça and Atleti also came with Los Pericos.)
William AllenPosted at: 16:09EDT26/09/2023
Barça get Raphinha scampering into the Mallorca box and to the byline, with white shirts waiting in the middle - but the Brazilian's attempted cut-back is blocked.
Raphinha has been Barça's chief danger man so far.
William AllenPosted at: 16:00EDT26/09/2023
Muriqi wheels away in celebration after scoring for Mallorca.
(Photo: EFE/ Miquel A. Borràs)
William AllenPosted at: 15:59EDT26/09/2023
Offside is given, but again Mallorca give Barcelona's defence serious food for thought.
Muriqi heads a right-wing free-kick back across the box for Maffeo to meet with his head - and it flies just wide. As I say, though, the flag was up against Muriqi, who was very clearly offside.
William AllenPosted at: 15:58EDT26/09/2023
Oh, that's excellent play by Raphinha. Receiving on the right, he cuts inside and whips a ball into the middle, where Ferran has darted into position. Ferran can't connect with the inswinging ball, and it flashes across Rajkovic's goal and out. All it needed was a touch.
William AllenPosted at: 15:56EDT26/09/2023
Oofff, Araújo is very close to getting himself into a right old mess there. With Prats breathing down his neck, Araújo almost allows the Mallorca man to nick it off his toes before the defender can play it back to Ter Stegen. Araújo survives, just.
William AllenPosted at: 15:54EDT26/09/2023
Raphinha clips over a ball from right to left looking for Joao Félix, who is arriving in pace and in space. He's stretching for it, though, and can only prod it behind for a goal-kick.
William AllenPosted at: 15:52EDT26/09/2023
Raphinha jinks into space to shoot, but his effort is blocked.
A moment later, Joao Félix scampers towards goal on the left and is brought down by Valjent, giving the visitors the chance to whip another dead-ball delivery into the Mallorca area.
Whip a delivery in they do, but the hosts clear.
William AllenPosted at: 15:51EDT26/09/2023
Sánchez does very well to win the ball back in the Barcelona half, before racing towards the visitors' box. He fires in a low shot at goal, but it's tamely hit. Ter Stegen gathers it with ease.
William AllenPosted at: 15:50EDT26/09/2023
González catches Joao Félix with a fairly robust challenge, eliciting a minor talking-to from the referee.
William AllenPosted at: 15:48EDT26/09/2023
On the left flank, Rodríguez wriggles into space to left a ball into the Barcelona box, where Martínez has to head behind. Barça then deal with the corner.
William AllenPosted at: 15:47EDT26/09/2023
Gündogan swings in a right-wing free-kick, which is headed clear by Copete.
Copete tussles for the loose ball out on the right wing with Araújo, who falls to the turf in pain, apparently caught by the Mallorca defender. Copete tells the Uruguayan in no uncertain terms that he believes he may be making a little bit too much of it, and the referee agrees that it's no free-kick.
William AllenPosted at: 15:46EDT26/09/2023
Raphinha fizzes a low ball into Joao Félix just inside the box, but the Portuguese is crowded out and Mallorca bring it away.
William AllenPosted at: 15:43EDT26/09/2023
Barcelona look to hit straight back, but when Ferran flops to the turf outside of the Mallorca box, the referee tells him to get up.
It's been a thoroughly sterling first 10 minutes for Mallorca.
William AllenPosted at: 15:43EDT26/09/2023
Oh dear, it's a bit of a rick from Ter Stegen.
The German's pass out from the back is straight at a red shirt, and suddenly Antonio Sánchez has the chance to square it to Muriqi in the middle.
Sánchez can't initially find his man, but he gets a second bite at the cherry - and when the ball falls to Muriqi, he makes no mistake from six yards out!
William AllenPosted at: 15:42EDT26/09/2023
Having had to deal with a mini wave of Mallorca attacks over the past couple of minutes or so, Barcelona get forward and work it to Raphinha, who has space on the right to run at the defence.
Copete does very well to keep the Brazilian in check, however; indeed, the defender succeeds in knocking it off the Brazilian and behind for a goal-kick.
William AllenPosted at: 15:38EDT26/09/2023
Again Mallorca get the decibels rising among the home crowd, Gio González pinging in a cross from the right. Barça deal with it.
William AllenPosted at: 15:37EDT26/09/2023
Dani Rodríguez plays a one-two before advancing towards the Barça box and letting fly from 30 yards or so out. His effort flashes wide, but it took a touch off a Barça boot and Mallorca have a corner.
Said corner comes to nought, but it's certainly been a promising start from the hosts.
William AllenPosted at: 15:36EDT26/09/2023
Muriqi gets the home fans out of their seats for the first time this evening, receiving the ball and barrelling forward down the left flank. Iñigo Martínez is quickly across to slide and boot the ball out, though.
William AllenPosted at: 15:35EDT26/09/2023
Mallorca boss Javier Aguirre appears to be in good spirits tonight; we've just seen the Mexican enjoying a chuckle with the fourth official.
William AllenPosted at: 15:33EDT26/09/2023
Ferran looks to be playing through the middle for Barcelona, with Joao Félix on the left and Raphinha on the right.
William AllenPosted at: 15:32EDT26/09/2023
Peeep! Referee Alejandro Muñiz Ruiz gets us underway!
William AllenPosted at: 15:31EDT26/09/2023
Almost time for kick-off!
There are just under five minutes to go until kick-off at Son Moix. Here's a reminder of the teams:
Real Mallorca:
Rajkovic, González, Valjent, Nastasic, Copete, Maffeo, Rodríguez, Sánchez, Samu Costa, Muriqi, Prats
Barcelona:
Ter Stegen, Cancelo, Araújo, Iñigo, Balde, Romeu, Gündogan, Gavi, Raphinha, João Félix, Ferran
William AllenPosted at: 15:27EDT26/09/2023
If you're busy asking yourself where you can tune in to Mallorca vs Barcelona, let me point you in the direction of my colleague Fidel Rubio's guide on how to watch the game.
William AllenPosted at: 15:22EDT26/09/2023
Lewandowski needed a breather - Xavi
We've just heard from Barcelona boss Xavi, who has been speaking to Spanish broadcaster DAZN ahead of kick-off at Son Moix.
Asked about Robert Lewandowski's absence from the line-up, he confirmed that the Pole needed to be given a bit of rest.
“He has a lot of game time in his legs, including with his national team,” Xavi said. “I had already said that I was going to rotate.”
William AllenPosted at: 15:18EDT26/09/2023
Little between the sides in 21/22 and 22/23
As you'll see from that SofaScore graphic, Barcelona may be on a seven-game winning run in Mallorca, but their last two wins at Son Moix have been by just the one goal.
As I mentioned earlier, Robert Lewandowski got the winner as the Catalans edged Mallorca in October 2022, nine months after Luuk de Jong's goal was all that could separate the sides on the island.
William AllenPosted at: 15:19EDT26/09/2023
Barça's Son Moix seventh heaven
Barça's 11-in-a-row run against Mallorca includes seven wins on the trot at Son Moix, with an aggregate score of 16-2.
Here, courtesy of our friends at SofaScore, is a rundown of those seven consecutive Barça triumphs.
William AllenPosted at: 15:10EDT26/09/2023
Barça bid to stretch winning run against Mallorca
Barcelona are, it's fair to say, on a pretty decent run of form against Real Mallorca.
The Catalans have won their last 11 league meetings with Mallorca, and haven't lost to Los Bermellones since May 2009.
William AllenPosted at: 15:06EDT26/09/2023
Xavi: De Jong will be "big miss"
“Frenkie’s going to be a big miss, because he’s a key player for us. Both because of the way we play and the form he has been in, it’s a bitter pill to swallow.”
William AllenPosted at: 15:03EDT26/09/2023
Xavi: Mallorca "have a lot going for them"
More from Xavi's press conference yesterday:
“We know that Mallorca are a really tough side, because they have a lot of things going for them. Javier Aguirre has them really well drilled in defence. It’s going to be a tough game at a difficult place to go to - and they’ll be desperate to bounce back from their defeat to Girona.”
William AllenPosted at: 14:58EDT26/09/2023
Xavi "delighted" to renew Barcelona deal
As he spoke to reporters ahead of Barcelona's trip to the Balearics, Blaugrana boss Xavi toasted what was a very fruitful weekend for the Catalans. Not only did they finish matchday six on top of LaLiga, but it was announced on Friday that the head coach has extended his contract at the Camp Nou until 2025.
“Yeah, it was a great weekend," Xavi told his pre-match press conference. "Above all because of my contract renewal, which shows the confidence the club has in me and my backroom team, and we’re delighted about that.
(Photo: EFE/ Toni Albir)
William AllenPosted at: 14:57EDT26/09/2023
Aguirre: "We've put together a game plan"
“We’ve seen two games where Barcelona were really made to sweat - their 0-0 draw with Getafe [on LaLiga's opening weekend] and this weekend’s game against Celta, where they were 2-0 down with 10 minutes to go. We saw two ways of trying to stop them and, by taking examples from other coaches and allying that with our strengths, we’ve put together a game plan. But it’s never easy.”
William AllenPosted at: 14:50EDT26/09/2023
Aguirre: "We seemed to have recovered our defensive solidity"
“In the two games before Girona, we had picked up four out of six points with two clean sheets. You don’t only win games by defending - and I’ll say again that we need to take a step forwards [in attack] - but we seemed to have recovered our defensive solidity and tried to play better football [at Girona]. But it didn’t work out.”
William AllenPosted at: 14:48EDT26/09/2023
Mallorca have "moved on" from Girona defeat - Aguirre
Speaking to reporters ahead of today's match-up with Barcelona, Mallorca boss Javier Aguirre insisted is players have put their weekend woes in Girona behind them.
“The team has moved on [from the Girona defeat] and everyone’s raring to face Barcelona, as is always the case when you face the big boys," the Mexican said. "Against the likes of Real Madrid, Barcelona, Atlético, motivation is never an issue.”
A couple more Aguirre pre-match quotes coming up...
(Photo: EFE/ David Borrat)
William AllenPosted at: 14:47EDT26/09/2023
Real Mallorca team news
The Mallorca starting XI is now also out. Javier Aguirre has opted for:
Rajkovic, González, Valjent, Nastasic, Copete, Maffeo, Rodríguez, Sánchez, Samu Costa, Muriqi and Prats.
That's four changes to the side that began the weekend walloping by Girona, with Gio González, Copete, Antonio Sánchez and Abdón Prats all coming in for the hosts.
William AllenPosted at: 14:43EDT26/09/2023
On fire Lewy makes way at Son Moix
So, Lewandowski is on the bench, despite scoring in each of his last four LaLiga games. Indeed, the Pole's double against Celta has left him joint top of the scoring charts with five, alongside Real Madrid's Jude Bellingham and Atlético Madrid's Álvaro Morata.
What's more, it was Lewandowski who scored the winner for Barça at Son Moix last season.
But, I suppose, the 35-year-old is now an old man in footballing terms, so one can only surmise that Xavi feels he needs a bit of breather.
(Photo: EFE/ATIENZA)
William AllenPosted at: 14:38EDT26/09/2023
Félix fitting right in
And here are some of the Barcelona players enjoying a pre-match stroll on the Son Moix turf.
To the right, you won't need me to tell you, is Mr João Félix, who has looked really rather good since joining on loan from Atlético in the summer. He's on three goals in four games so far for Barça, plus a pair of assists.
(Photo: REUTERS/Albert Gea)
William AllenPosted at: 14:51EDT26/09/2023
Barcelona are here!
We've just over an hour until kick-off at Son Moix, where Barcelona are now all present and correct. Here, courtesy of the club's social-media team, is footage of their arrival a short while ago.
William AllenPosted at: 14:27EDT26/09/2023
De Jong set to miss Clásico
On that De Jong injury, it's believed that the Dutchman could miss as much as five to seven weeks. Given that the Clásico is in a month and two days' time, that would appear to rule him out of that one.
Here's my colleague Roddy Cons with a full report on De Jong's injury.
(Photo: Albert Gea/Reuters)
William AllenPosted at: 14:24EDT26/09/2023
Lewandowski on bench for Barcelona
Xavi makes five changes to the side that started the weekend win over Celta Vigo, and has, most notably, opted to drop Robert Lewandowski to the bench.
Ronald Araújo and Alejandro Balde return in defence, while Íñigo Martínez also comes into the backline for his first Barça start. Gavi is in in midfield, and Raphinha starts on the wing.
Jules Koundé, Andreas Christensen and Marcos Alonso are also among those who drop out of the line-up - as is Frenkie de Jong, who is facing a sizeable layoff after coming off against Celta with an ankle injury.
William AllenPosted at: 14:25EDT26/09/2023
Barcelona team news
Xavi has named his Barcelona line-up at Son Moix. He has gone with:
Ter Stegen, Cancelo, Araújo, Iñigo, Balde, Romeu, Gündogan, Gavi, Raphinha, João Félix and Ferran.
William AllenPosted at: 14:18EDT26/09/2023
From Blaugrana to Blancos
Barcelona are going to be wearing their white change kit today. I actually quite like it, but nonetheless it strikes me as a bit weird.
William AllenPosted at: 14:09EDT26/09/2023
Mallorca reeling after Girona gubbing
Real Mallorca, meanwhile, are giving their wounds a furious licking after shipping five at high-flying Girona at the weekend.
That heavy defeat came after a mini-run of four points from two games in which Los Bermellones didn't concede once. That pair of positive results included their first win of the season, a 1-0 triumph at Celta Vigo 10 days ago.
Javier Aguirre's men came into matchday seven sitting 16th, one point above the LaLiga drop zone.
ALA
LP
MLL
CEL
GRA
William AllenPosted at: 14:03EDT26/09/2023
Barça still unbeaten after Celta late show
For most of Saturday's game against Celta, Barça appeared to be heading for their first defeat of the season.
With 80 minutes on the clock, after all, Xavi's men were 2-0 down at Montjuic.
Then, however, Barça clicked in attack - and blew the Galicians away with three goals in the final 10 minutes, to make it five league wins on the bounce. Joao Cancelo, who has slotted in very nicely indeed since joining from Manchester City, clipped home the winner with a de-lish finish from Gavi's fine delivery.
(Photo: REUTERS/Albert Gea)
William AllenPosted at: 13:57EDT26/09/2023
Barcelona edging Girona at top
Barcelona ended the weekend top of the table thanks to a combination of their dramatic comeback win against Celta Vigo on Saturday, and Real Madrid's defeat to Spanish capital rivals Atlético the following day.
Barça only lead the way on goal difference, though. Girona are their surprise fellow pacesetters, having most recently run away with a 5-3 victory over the team the Blaugrana are facing today.
BCN
GIR
RMA
ATH
ATM
William AllenPosted at: 13:47EDT26/09/2023
Real Mallorca vs Barcelona: welcome!
Hello! No sooner has the weekend's LaLiga action come to a conclusion, than a midweek round of games is upon us.
Having moved to the top of the table on matchday six, Barcelona now visit Real Mallorca - a side they have fared very well against on the road in recent seasons.
Kick-off at Son Moix is at 3:30pm ET/12:30pm PT. Team news should be dropping in just under an hour's time.
William AllenPosted at: 13:42EDT26/09/2023
