Barça finishes the job amid refereeing chaos

BarcelonaHansi Flick's bonus will have a tough time stopping the euphoria at Barça (0-3). His team has returned to work with the same idea they had at the end of the previous season, engaged and ambitious. Now Flick will also have a tough time preventing his opponents from blaming him for the numerous controversies from the Mallorca match. A match that lasted barely 30 minutes, until chaos erupted after the decisions of José Luis Munuera, who will become persona non grata In Mallorca. In just five minutes, he ruled a goal by Ferran valid and sent off two home players, sending the home crowd into a spin. The three decisions, combined, were painful for Mallorca. But analyzed separately, they seem like three successful decisions by the referee.

When Muriqi saw his second red card, when he nearly took Joan Garcia's ear, the game was over. With the score at 0-2 and two men remaining, Barça just had to pace themselves, let the clock run, and try not to take any damage. Raphinha failed to read the script and committed a foul that could have been a red card. It only ended up being a yellow card. And the Mallorcan fans had more reasons to complain. Despite that scare, Barça made the right decisions. They weren't as successful in front of goal, missing numerous chances until Lamine Yamal scored the third in the final play of the match.

It all started with a Barça monologue. A solid first half-hour from Barça. A slightly improved project, even more mature than a few months ago. A team that plays from memory, with depth and hungry players. If Flick asked his players to compete without excuses, the first official match of the season served to witness a top-notch team, in which the players bite at their opponents and always seek to score more goals. Cruyff used to say that the second year of a project is more difficult than the first. One of those sayings that has served, over the years, to put managers like Flick on alert. The German doesn't want excuses; he wants to see a winning team that makes the enemy tremble. In fact, at the end of the match, he was furious, as his team "played at 50%." He wants the opposition to come out onto the pitch half-scared, thinking that if they make a mistake, they'll be showered with goals. Playing against Barça must be tough, when you already know what these guys are capable of.

In Mallorca, Barça was back in action, but with a few minor changes. Hours before the match, Joan Garcia discovered that Laporta had managed to register him. And he was able to make his debut between the sticks with a good performance, always doing what was necessary. Without Iñigo, Araujo was a center back. And Eric Garcia positioned himself at full-back in front of Koundé in a team where time stood still when Lamine Yamal touched the ball. With the number 10 on his back, he did his thing every time he came into action. He would provide the assist for the first goal, a cross headed in by Raphinha.

The second goal would be the one that would open the door to controversy. A shot from Lamine Yamal, of course, that took out Raíllo's head. The home center-back went down and feigned pain, but the referee didn't stop play. And Ferran took advantage of this to make it 0-2 with a fine shot when more than one home player thought the game would be stopped. It wasn't to be, and the goal was still valid, and Morlanes was shown a yellow card for protesting. He argued that when someone is hit on the head, play needs to be stopped. The referee told him that clearing the ball isn't enough to fake a concussion. And he was right, although it's also true that the referee's body language, with his whistle to his mouth, confused more than one Mallorcan fan. Morlanes, who was hot-headed, saw his second yellow card immediately afterward when he tried to stop an unstoppable Lamine Yamal. Another emotional blow for a Mallorca side that finally crumbled when Muriqui, fighting for the ball, lifted his leg too high and put his studs in Joan Garcia's face.

The game was over. The Mallorca kids were crying in the stands, and Barça had to stay calm to secure their first win of the season. Flick brought off Fermin to give minutes to Olmo, a player more suited to maintaining control. And Mallorca simply had to survive without conceding any more goals, to prevent the mess from getting any worse. Arrasate's disciples were fortunate that Barça's accuracy was lacking in a game in which Jofre Torrents made his La Liga debut at full-back on the same day as Rashford, the first Englishman at Barça in 40 years. He didn't have time to do much in a strange match in which the icing on the cake was Lamine Yamal, who scored the third goal in the last second. He received the ball surrounded by three opponents, outwitted them, and found space to shoot like Messi did when the Argentine wore the number 10. Now he's being carried by Lamine Yamal. And he's terrifying for opponents.