Barcelona needs the win tonight in the La Liga fixture against Mallorca to keep Real Madrid behind them in the standings. The Catalans are four points ahead of Madrid with six games left of the season. Mallorca are involved in the hunt for a spot in Europe next season and will try to steal a point or three from Barcelona. It won’t be easy though since Mallorca have not beaten Barcelona in La Liga since 2009.
Barca squared off with Celta Vigo over the weekend and they were down 1-3 in the second half of the game. Hasi Flick's side turned things around at the end of the day. Barcelona won the game (at home) 4-3 after the key player Raphinha scored the winner on a penalty kick in the 98th minute. Ferran Torres and Dani Olmo scored one each and Raphinha had two goals in the game. A huge win for Barcelona to say the least. The club is still controlling its own La Liga destiny this season.
The Polish veteran and talisman is sidelined for Barcelona due to a muscle injury. The 36 year old Lewandowski is the top scorer for Barcelona this season with 25 goals to his name. Robert has scored a bunch of crucial goals for Barcelona during the season. He will miss the game tonight and probably the upcoming Copa Del Rey final versus Real Madrid in Seville. The next Champions League fixture vs Inter is at risk too. Hansi Flick has a deep roster to choose players from. Barcelona will most likely be alright.
Barcelona have been very strong at Nou Camp this season with 12 wins out of 16. One draw and three losses. In total they have won 23 games, four draws and five lost games. They have scored the most goals in La Liga this season by far (88). 23 more scored goals than Real Madrid. Only three clubs have conceded fewer goals than Barca (Bilbao, Real & Atletico Madrid). Barca defeated Mallorca 5-1 away in December.
Mallorca currently sits at the 7th position in the La Liga standings. That is the last slot that provides a spot in European competition the upcoming season. Mallorca faced Leganes over the weekend and it ended in a goalless draw. They have two wins, one draw and two lost games in the last five La Liga fixtures. Mallorca has collected 44 points in La Liga at this point of the season.
The Mallorca manager Jagoba Arrasate has a couple of doubtful players in Muriqi, Navaro, Morianes and Asano. Ter-Stegen, Balde, Casado and Bernal are out with Lewandowski. Lamine Yamal is set to return to the starting eleven.
PROBABLE LINEUPS: Barcelona: Szczesny; Kounde, Araujo, Cubarsi, Martin; Pedri, De Jong; Yamal, Gavi, Raphinha; Torres Mallorca: Greif; Maffeo, Valjent, Raillo, Copete, Mojica; D Rodriguez, S Costa, Darder; Larin, A Sanchez
