Rondinaires with all the luck in the world: the hot notes from Barça-Mallorca

BarcelonaBarça's narrow victory against Mallorca on a night of rotations and minor suffering at Montjuïc (1-0). With this scoreline, Real Madrid will go into the Copa del Rey final at least four points ahead of schedule in the La Liga standings. Here are some quick notes.

The time to solve. It can't be said that Barça is entering this crucial moment of the season at its best. The final at La Cartuja and the Champions League semi-finals are on the horizon, where the Blaugrana will have to improve on the performances they displayed last week in Dortmund and in the last two matches at Montjuïc, which were decided in agonizing fashion against two mid-table opponents. This verb is precisely the one that prevails at this stage of the season, with so much strain on the legs and less room for flourishes. But beware, when the superiority is not so obvious, chance has more impact than when every chance is going their way and the opponents pose no threat.

Rondinaire number one. He hadn't played a La Liga match since November 10th, and against Celta Vigo, he had paid for his frustration with another unrewarding warm-up by kicking the bench. Three days later, Flick accepted the challenge and brought Ansu Fati back into the starting lineup. The Spanish-Guinean striker had 61 minutes to prove the German wrong about him, but he didn't have the right shot. Although he repeatedly asked for it, both short and long, he couldn't convert the chances he had. He hasn't been the electric striker who deserved to wear Messi's number 10 for a while now, but he has the instinct. Not for success at the new Camp Nou, yet, but for regaining the confidence he lost elsewhere.

Rondinaire number two. Six games after his last La Liga appearance, Flick reacted to Héctor Fort's outburst with the same kind of treatment he gave Ansu. "Come on, go out there, play, and let everyone see that I don't have a clue," the coach told the young La Masia full-back, who opened up the field on the left and combined good attacking touches with minor defensive scares. The little threat Mallorca generated toward Szczęsny came from his own area. The big question is whether Gerard Martín improves him as much as the squad's participation statistics show. The bosses are quite clear that he will. Closely related to Lamine Yamal, Fort must continue to improve to be a more reliable alternative to Kounde and Balde.

Stone breaks stereotypes. Both Fort and Ansu were incredibly fortunate to coincide with two essential players like Iñigo and Pedri. Let's focus on the Canary Islander, undoubtedly the most distinctive player in terms of the current Barça collective. When he steps onto the pitch, any shell becomes a delicious fruit. There's no oriented control, no passing into space, no maneuvering between opponents. And no, he doesn't need to abandon his tropical rhythm to win the most balls in the entire league. What else, Pedri? All we needed was to see you progress with every stride, like Ballack or Lampard, in search of the goal that will finally break the stereotype about the type of midfielder you are.