Barça aim to stretch their lead over Madrid in Mallorca clash
Flick's men look to maintain their slender one-point advantage at La Liga summit as they host Mallorca at the Spotify Camp Nou, where they've been scoring for fun.
Barcelona will be desperate to maintain their slender one-point advantage over arch-rivals Real Madrid when they welcome Mallorca to the Spotify Camp Nou this afternoon.
Title race heating up
The Catalan giants find themselves in a proper two-horse race with Los Blancos, and after stumbling to a defeat against Real Sociedad at Anoeta in matchday 20, they’ve seen their cushion at the top shrink to just a single point. Talk about squeaky bum time already!
Flick’s men enter this clash in fine fettle though, having just booked their ticket to the Copa del Rey semi-finals. They’ll be looking to use their home advantage as the perfect platform to keep Madrid at arm’s length in the title chase.
Camp Nou fortress
The stats make for proper tasty reading if you’re a Barça supporter:
- Unbeaten against Mallorca since the 2008-09 campaign
- Won all 10 home matches this season across different stadiums (Johan Cruyff, Montjuïc, and Camp Nou)
- Conceded just five goals at home while banging in a whopping 31
- Already notched up 60 goals in total this season – absolutely having a bubble!
That attacking prowess has been nothing short of historic, making them the team to beat in La Liga this term.
Team news
Despite missing some key players – particularly Pedri in midfield and Raphinha up front who’s still nursing an overload from the Elche match – Flick has plenty of options at his disposal.
Expect to see some changes from Tuesday’s Copa victory over Albacete, with Koundé, Balde and Ferran Torres all likely to return to the starting XI.
Mallorca, meanwhile, make the journey to Barcelona after their most comprehensive victory of the season against Sevilla. They’re in desperate need of points to create some separation from the relegation zone. Manager Arrasate has a nearly full squad available, with only Takuma Asano and Abdón Prats missing through injury.
The visitors’ squad features new signing Luvumbo, who could make his debut in Mallorca colors.