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Coming off a recent win against the mighty Girona, Mallorca had the momentum on their side ahead of Friday’s clash against Barcelona in La Liga. The Copa del Rey finalists, after all, took points off Barcelona the last time they faced off this season as well.
The 90 minutes that unfolded at Estadi Olimpic Lluis Companys last night, thus, saw fighting football all over. From injuries to missed penalties, the game had it all as it finally boiled down to a 1-0 home win.
Lamine Yamal was the hero on the night for Barcelona once more, but the game brought out great displays from players across the field. Pau Cubarsi was refined, mature, and solid in defence, and Gundogan stellar in midfield despite his penalty blues while Yamal shone in the final third.
Barça Universal brings you three talking points from Barcelona 1-1 Mallorca.
The midfield curse
At this point, it is not unwarranted to label Barcelona’s midfield situation to be heavily cursed. After all, the position has seen players fall like a pack of cards and succumb to injuries.
Just last week, Xavi lost both Pedri and Frenkie de Jong to injury in 90 minutes. While the former sustained a blow to his hamstring, the latter fell prey to a gruesome ankle injury after an awkward landing.
The injuries forced Xavi to make drastic changes in midfield against Mallorca. Andreas Christensen started as the pivot on the night with Ilkay Gundogan taking his regular position as an interior. The third player in midfield, out of the blue, was Raphinha.
The Brazilian did not have the best of games and should not have been deployed in the role in hindsight. Yet, he racked up only one key pass, won a penalty and 17 attempted passes on the night before he too fell prey to the curse.
While winning the penalty on the night, the Brazilian had his ankle sustained a bad knock. He warriored on for 15 minutes after the incident, but it was too severe for him to continue as he asked to be taken off the field.
The midfield curse at…
Source link : https://barcauniversal.com/three-talking-points-from-barcelona-1-0-mallorca/
Author : Adithya Eshwarla
Publish date : 2024-03-09 09:10:36
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