Barcelona hope to maintain their perfect home record since returning to the Spotify Camp Nou when they host Mallorca.
The recent history of the matchup heavily favors Barcelona, who are unbeaten in their last 19 La Liga games against Mallorca, including 17 victories. With the visitors immersed in a relegation battle, anything but securing another win will be considered a failure.
Hansi Flick’s side have won 11 of their last 12 in La Liga, yet they enter the weekend just one point clear of Real Madrid in the title race. Dropped points from now until the end of the season could prove costly, so Barcelona know they can’t afford to stumble on Saturday.
Match Snapshot
- 🕒 Kick-off time: 3:15 p.m. GMT, 10:15 a.m. ET, 7:15 a.m. PT
- 📍 Location: Spotify Camp Nou
- 🏆 Competition: La Liga
- 📊 Recent form: WWWWW
Team News
- ⚠️ Key injuries, absentees, doubts: Pedri, Gavi, Andreas Christensen, Raphinha
- 🔢 Predicted formation: 4-2-3-1
Flick will have to work around the absence of star attacker Raphinha, who will miss a second straight game with a muscular overload. Although the injury is minor, Flick admitted they want to be cautious with the Brazilian’s recovery to ensure the issue doesn’t reappear during the climax of the season.
Gavi and Pedri were spotted training on the pitch together as they both enter the final stages of their recovery. Although it’s a good sign that they’re no longer constrained to the treatment room, the midfield pair are still weeks away from being able to feature in a match.
Andreas Christensen, who will be out for the rest of the season, is the only other Barça player Flick won’t be able to count on for Mallorca’s visit.
Barcelona Predicted Lineup vs. Mallorca (4-2-3-1)
GK: Joan García—The Spaniard routinely adds new acrobatic saves to his season highlight reel, but he’s been slightly shaky in recent games and hasn’t kept a clean sheet in three straight.
RB: Jules Koundé—Koundé’s struggles have been well documented, but a stellar performance a week ago should serve as a confidence boost to return to his best.
CB: Pau Cubarsí—Cubarsí has struggled against physical center forwards this term and Vedat Muriqi represents another major test for the La Masia graduate.
CB: Eric García—Flick will deploy García in the heart of defense as the German continues to exploit his versatility. The García-Cubarsí partnership remains Flick’s preferred pairing despite their lack of physicality.
LB: Alejandro Balde—Balde’s performance against Elche a week ago was publicly praised by Flick as he reminded the world why he’s one of the most dynamic and complete left backs in the sport.
CM: Frenkie de Jong—De Jong seemingly can do no wrong these days and is playing arguably at the highest level of his career.
CM: Dani Olmo—Despite playing in a deeper role of late, Olmo has continued to break open backlines with perfectly placed through balls.
RW: Lamine Yamal—Yamal has been in sensational touch, creating 12 chances in his last two league matches and arriving to Saturday’s clash having scored in four consecutive games in all competitions—the longest streak of his career.
AM: Fermin López—The Spaniard will be eager to make up for his uncharacteristically wasteful showing a week ago, where he could’ve easily scored a hat-trick but instead exited the game empty-handed.
LW: Marcus Rashford—The Englishman is the third Barça player this season to reach double digits in both goals and assists. His output is unquestionable, but the overall feeling is there’s still another level he can unlock if he puts it all together.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Barcelona XI vs. Mallorca: Raphinha Replacement Decided—Injury News, Predicted Lineup.
