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— A deserving win for Barcelona tonight. With this victory, Barca moves to 61 points from 28 matches in the La Liga standings. Real Madrid has 56 from 27 games.
Meanwhile, Mallorca stays in the relegation zone, with just 25 points from 28 outings this season. On the other hand, Celta Vigo stands 17th, with 26 from 28 encounters.
AND IT'S FULL-TIME!!!!
90+5' Barcelona's Suarez receives a precise pass and is given time inside the box to send a promising strike towards the bottom right corner. However, Mallorca keeper Reina guesses his intention and denies him with a fine save.
90+3' AND MESSI FINALLY SCORES!!!!! BARCELONA 4 - 0 MALLORCA!! MESSI'S 20TH LA LIGA GOAL THIS SEASON!!!! Mallorca looks absolutely clueless now. Luis Suarez with a simple assist. Messi evaded few defenders and slotted it home.
90' Five minutes of stoppage time to be added on at the end of the second half! Alejandro Pozo did his best to latch on to a crossfield pass, but it was too long and it goes out of play.
88' Mallorca has attempted 10 shots today, while Barcelona has made eight. It's all about effectiveness, isn't it? YELLOW CARD! Mallorca's Daniel Rodrigruez is booked by the referee for a reckless tackle.
85' SUBSTITUTIONS!!! Firpo Junior replaces Frenkie de Jong for Barcelona. On the other hand, Salva Sevilla makes way for Yannis Salibur. Can Mallorca score at least one here?
82' OFFSIDE! Luis Suarez was a little too eager to get on the score sheet there. Messi has been phenomenal today. It'll be a tough choice between him and Alba for the player of the match award.
79' GOALLLLLLLL!!! BARCELONA 3 - 0!! JORDI ALBA SCORES! ANOTHER MESSI ASSIST!!!!! There is a VAR check now. Alba was released by Messi. He surged into the box and smashed a shot into the top corner of the post after a one-on-one with the goalkeeper.
75' Takefusa Kubo pulls the trigger and strikes the ball towards goal from long-range, but his effort is blocked by Araujo. CORNER FOR MALLORCA! And again it's wasted. Poor stuff from the home side.
71' SOME MORE CHANGES! Sergio Busquets makes way for Arthur, while Sergi Roberto also goes away. Nelson Semedo, after receiving some serious advice from Quique Setien, finally comes in. Both were FC Barcelona substitutions.
68' Lago Junior of Mallorca produces an inaccurate low pass into the box but it somehow reaches Kubo. However, Barca's Pique blocks his shot. CORNER FOR THE HOME TEAM! Another short corner, another set-piece wasted for Mallorca.
63' CLOSE! Luis Suarez is unable to control an accurate defence-splitting pass from Lionel Messi and Valjent reacts well to disposses. Araujo had missed a chance just moments ago. Messi has provided so many delightful balls inside the box today.
58' WHAT A CHANCE! Martin Braithwaite latches on to a precise pass and finds himself one-on-one with the keeper. He fires a low shot towards the right side of the keeper, but Manolo Reina leaps to make the save at the right time.
57' FEW MORE SUBSTITUTIONS! Luis Suarez comes in for Antoine Griezmann for FC Barcelona, while Iddrisu Babu replaces Marc Pedraza in the middle for the opposition.
54' BLOCK! Takefusa Kubo sends the ball into the box from the right flank, but his cross is blocked. Mallorca wins a corner but it is wasted.
50' CORNER! Another Mallorca set-piece. Salva Sevilla takes the corner but one of the Barcelona defenders jumps high and makes the clearance.
48' CLOSE! Ante Budimir shoots from close range after receiving a good pass. His effort goes just wide. The half time changes look to be working for Mallorca.
46' SUBSTITUTIONS! Sastre and Cucho make way for Gamez and Junior for Mallorca, while Vidal is replaced by Rakitic for Barcelona. Three changes straightaway. Remember, each team can make upto five changes, as opposed to the usual three, due to the coronavirus pandemic.
AND THE SECOND HALF IS UNDERWAY!
Barcelona has clearly dominated the first 45 minutes. Mallorca is struggling and it needs to recover soon if it wants to avoid relegation this season. Barca hasn't missed Luis Suarez so far and looks set to take home ful three points. Forty-five minutes to go.
AND IT'S HALF-TIME!
45+4' Frenkie de Jong attempts to feed Messi with a cross, but Mallorca's skipper and keeper Manolo Reina reacts well and comes off his line to intercept the attempt.
45' CHANCE! Ante Budimir misses a great opportunity! He jumped for a cross from Sastre and headed the ball towards goal from the penalty spot, but the ball sails wide of ter Stegen's right post! Four minutes of stoppage time to be added on!
41' OFFSIDE! After a long VAR check, Budimir was a little too eager to get forward there. YELLOW CARD!! Arturo Vidal, after scoring the opening goal, is booked now for a silly tackle. This is the first booking of this La Liga game.
37' GOOOOAAAALLLLLL!!!!!!!! BARCELONA 2 - 0 MALLORCA!!!! BRAITHWAITE SCORES!! This had to happen. Mallorca was very clumsy. There were several Barca players close to the box. Frenkie de Jong put in a headed pass to Messi, who in turn set up Braithwaite, who finished it in style.
32' VERY CLOSE!!! Kubo fires in a promising low strike, but he is denied by Marc-Andre ter Stegen, who was initially wrong-footed. The teams will take a cooling break now!
30' FREE-KICK FOR MALLORCA!! This one is right at the edge of the box. Takefuso Kubo and Salva Sevilla discuss on who should take the set piece.
26' IT'S A MALLORCA CORNER! Cucho delivers a lovely cross into the penalty area. But Ronald Araujo, Barca's 21-year-old Uruguayan centre-back, is alert and averts the danger with a brilliant clearance.
22' GOOD SAVE BY TER STEGEN! TAKEFUSO KUBO ALMOST EQUALISES!!! The Real Madrid loanee almost frustrates his youth club. Marc Pedraza with the pass on the right wing and Kubo evaded several opponents and finally took a shot on goal.
18' Sastre is showing some promise on the left flank for Mallorca. He's troubling Roberto a bit. He has to complement Kubo well in order to give his side some hope.
15' CLOSE!!! Roberto almost scored there but Cucho Hernandez comes to his side's rescue. Barcelona has dominted possession by a huge margin in the first 15 minutes.
12' CORNER FOR BARCA! Messi misses a good chance to score. Mallorca players are defending with their lives already. Messi will take the set-piece and the ball is cleared away.
9' CORNER FOR MALLORCA! No, the referee says it's a throw-in. Takefusa Kubo, who is fondly called Japanese Messi, puts a cross into box but the ball is intercepted by the opposition's defence. Mallorca will have another throw-in now.
7' Martin Braithwaite takes a rebound on the edge of the box and slams the ball well wide of the left post. Looks loke we might witness a goalfest today, despite Suarez's absence.
5' CLOSE! Vidal chips the ball into the box in an attempt to set up Lionel Messi, but the effort is intercepted by one of the opposition defenders. Messi is playing a central role today and Griezmann is playing on his wing. Braithwaite is on the left.
2' GOALLLLLLLLL!!!!! ARTURO VIDAL SCORES!!! JUST 65 SECONDS IN! Great assist from Jordi Alba. Frenkie de Jong won the ball just outside the box and immediately passed it to Alba, who served Vidal with a delightful cross with his left foot. The Chilean made no mistake with his header.
AND THE MATCH IS UNDERWAY!
A minute's silence is observed for all the coronavirus victims around the world.
Real and Atletico Madrid will be in action tomorrow.
THE PLAYERS ARE OUT!
Real Madrid is two points behind FC Barcelona, which will have 10 games remaining in the 2019-20 La Liga season after today's match against RCD Mallorca.
REMINDER: Barcelona has lost five away games this season.
We are 15 minutes away from kickoff.
The line-ups are out!
BARCELONA XI: M ter Stegen (G), J Alba, G Pique, S Roberto, R Araujo, S Busquets, A Vidal, F de Jong, L Messi (C), M Braithwaite, A Griezmann.
MALLORCA XI: M Reina (C)(G), A Budimir, Cucho, T Kubo, M Pedraza, A Pozo, A Raillo, D Rodriguez, J Sastre, S Sevilla, M Valjent.
MATCH PREVIEW:
FC Barcelona returns to action on Saturday night when it travels to play relegation-threatened RCD Mallorca in an empty Estadi de Son Moix. The league leader will be close to full strength as it prepares to make the short trip to Mallorca.
The enforced lay-off due to the coronavirus has allowed Luis Suarez to recover from the knee operation he had in January, while Antoine Griezmann commented earlier in the week that the break had granted him the physical and mental rest he hadn't been able to enjoy in the last five years, reports Xinhua news agency.
The problems for Barca coach Quique Setien are the suspension of central defender Clement Lenglet, which is carried over from Barca's last game before the break, and a question over the form of Samuel Umtiti, who would be his natural replacement in central defence.
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Winger Ousmane Dembele is still missing, while youngster Ansu Fati has worked in the gym because of injury and probably won't travel.
Nelson Semedo will be able to form part of the expedition to Mallorca after testing negative for COVID-19. He was filmed breaking lockdown protocols at a birthday celebration earlier in the week.
Lionel Messi will start, although with games every three days, Setien will be anxious to protect his star player, who did suffer some muscle problems a few days ago, while Suarez will probably be eased back into action.
The lack of match fitness should favor Barca's style of play over Mallorca's work-rate and organization, but after three months without a game and no practice games to ease into the return, there might be a question mark if Barca will be able to switch on its passing game.
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