Mallorca vs Barcelona Full Match 2023-24

Centre-back Antonio Raíllo is proving a huge absence for Mallorca as their poor start to the season took another negative turn at the weekend. Manager Javier Aguirre had claimed pre-match that his defence were learning to cope without their club captain, who is sidelined with a long-term injury, but that statement aged badly as they were hammered 5-3 by Girona, a scoreline only made more respectable thanks to a late brace from Abdón Prats.

That result ultimately means the Pirates have picked up just five points in six outings in La Liga (W1, D2, L3), conceding ten goals in the process. The visit of Barcelona could barely come at a worse time for their under-pressure manager then, given Mallorca have lost 13 of the last 14 H2Hs (D1), failing to even score in nine of those meetings.

Xavi’s side will therefore be overwhelming favourites to extend that run, especially after a sensational comeback against Celta Vigo on Saturday night when they scored three goals in the last nine minutes to win 3-2. That was their sixth successive victory across all competitions for the defending La Liga champions, who incredibly have netted 21 goals over that period.

Even so, the manager will be demanding a better performance after admitting Barca were “very disorganised” against Celta. Indeed, there are clear weaknesses that Mallorca could exploit, as their defence has already been breached six times in six league games, after having taken 15 fixtures to concede the same number of goals in 2022/23.

Key battle: Prats, who is pushing for a start after his brace on Saturday, netted first or last in six of his last seven goalscoring appearances. Attempting to out-gun him could be Barcelona forward Ferran Torres, who has won four of his five H2Hs (L1), although his only goal against Mallorca came in a 4-1 defeat.

Hot streak: There have been 3+ total goals in only three of Mallorca’s last 20 home league games.