Raphinha and Lamine Yamal powered Barcelona’s return to winning ways, leading the Catalan giants to a commanding 5-1 victory over Mallorca on Tuesday – their first triumph in four La Liga matches.
The win lifts Barca to 37 points, extending their lead at the top of the table to four over second-placed Real Madrid, though they have played two more games.
Real Madrid, under Carlo Ancelotti, have a chance to trim the gap to one point on Wednesday when they face Athletic Bilbao.
Mallorca remain sixth, two points shy of Bilbao and the coveted final Champions League berth.
Ferran Torres opened the scoring for Barcelona, but Vedat Muriqi equalized to ensure a tightly contested first half ended level before Barca’s dominance took over.
Raphinha and Yamal lit up the second half as the visitors ran riot. The Brazilian scored twice, with Frenkie de Jong and Pau Victor also finding the net.
“We knew how important it was to win again. In the last three games, something has been missing. Today we were good. It wasn’t our best game, but winning was the most important thing,” Barcelona captain Raphinha told Movistar.
Barcelona were boosted by the return of teenage starlet Yamal, who started the match after recovering from an ankle problem.
Hansi Flick’s side dropped points in the two league outings Yamal missed and suffered a home defeat to Las Palmas when he was only fit enough to start on the bench.
The hosts gifted Barca the lead in the 12th minute when panicked defending turned a seemingly harmless situation into disaster.
As a trio of Mallorca defenders shepherded the ball back to their goalkeeper, full-back Johan Mojica attempted a clearance but smashed the ball into Antonio Raillo.
The deflection fell perfectly for Torres, who calmly stroked home the opener.
Barcelona’s high defensive line frequently caught Mallorca out as the hosts struggled to play long passes to their forwards.
Mallorca began to build pressure, though Barca remained dangerous on the counterattack with the pace of Yamal, Dani Olmo, Raphinha and Torres.
A second goal seemed imminent for either side, and it came for Mallorca in the 43rd minute. Inigo Martinez dropped deeper than the rest of Barcelona’s back line, allowing Pablo Maffeo to time his run perfectly onto Sergi Darder’s pass. Maffeo squared the ball for Muriqi, who tapped into an open net.
‘Give everything’
Another defensive lapse nearly restored Barcelona’s lead before halftime, but goalkeeper Leo Roman bailed out Raillo’s poor back header by denying Raphinha in a one-on-one.
Román thwarted the Brazilian again early in the second half, punching away a powerful free kick. However, Raphinha finally broke through in the 56th minute, converting a penalty just beyond Román’s reach.
Yamal earned the spot kick with his pace, sprinting onto Olmo’s through ball before being brought down by Mojica in the box.
Barcelona had struggled creatively during Yamal’s absence, but the 17-year-old showcased his brilliance again moments later with a clever backheel to set up a chance for Pedri, whose shot was blocked.
Raphinha made the game safe in the 76th minute, finishing a stunning outside-of-the-foot cross from Yamal.
“I’m living my best moment, but I don’t want to stop here. I want to do much more for this crest. It’s a club I love enormously. Everything I can give on the pitch, I’ll give,” Raphinha said.
Euro 2024 winner Yamal repeated the trick five minutes later, setting up Victor, whose cross was deflected into De Jong’s path for an easy finish.
De Jong turned provider in the closing stages, squaring for Victor to add Barca’s fifth.
Yamal nearly capped a spectacular performance, but Román denied his late chipped effort to prevent further damage.