BARCELONA: Barcelona cruised to a 3-0 win at nine-man Mallorca in their opening La Liga game of the season on Saturday as England forward Marcus Rashford made his debut off the bench.
Mallorca’s Manu Morlanes and Vedat Muriqi were sent off within six first-half minutes after Raphinha and Ferran Torres struck early for the Spanish champions.
“These are three very important points, but I didn’t like the match. The team dropped their intensity too much in the second half, that’s not acceptable. We need to talk about it,” Barcelona coach Hansi Flick said.
Raphinha headed home after seven minutes and Torres doubled the lead in the 23rd minute to put the Spanish champions in command.
Mallorca players complained to the referee, saying they had stopped playing when a team-mate went down in the lead-up to Torres’s goal, but the referee was unmoved.
“I always tell my players not to stop until the referee blows the final whistle. It’s the referee who has to decide,” Flick said.
Morlanes was one of two Mallorca players booked for dissent as they told the referee he should have stopped the game.
Morlanes was shown a second yellow card for a foul on Lamine Yamal after 33 minutes.Six minutes later, debutant goalkeeper Joan Garcia jumped to head a ball clear, Mallorca striker Muriqi challenged with his boot so high he planted his studs on Garcia’s cheek. Muriqi also saw red.
Rashford, on loan from Manchester United, was sent on in the 69th minute for his debut, becoming the first Englishman to play a first-team game for Barcelona since former England striker Gary Lineker in 1989.
Rashford’s league registration was only cleared on Saturday morning for his La Liga debut.
Yamal found the top corner with an excellent shot four minutes into stoppage time to complete the visitors’ comfortable win.
“He surprises you every day. He’s a spectacular player,” said Flick.
Barcelona travel to Levante next Saturday, when Mallorca host Celta Vigo.
In the evening’s late games Valencia drew 1-1 at home to Real Sociedad.
Diego Lopez gave the hosts a 57th-minute lead, Takefusa Kubo replied three minutes later.
In Vitoria, Argentine centre back Facundo Tenaglia fired home from close range after a free kick in added time to give hosts Deportivo Alaves a 2-1 victory over promoted Levante.
Published in Dawn, August 18th, 2025