Barcelona kept up its unbeaten start to the season, but with a dramatic 2-2 draw against Mallorca, Barcelona lost ground at the top of La Liga.
Within ten minutes, Mallorca took the lead as goalkeeper Marc-André ter Stegen failed to clear the ball out of the Barça area, allowing Vedat Muriqi to score.
Just before halftime, Raphinha’s superb effort from the edge of the area tied the score. However, both the Brazilian winger and Joo Félix squandered golden opportunities to put the Blaugrana ahead shortly after.
However, Mallorca scored the game’s second goal in stoppage time when Abdón Prats was able to beat ter Stegen with a shot after Muriqi’s header.
As Barça sought an equalizer 10 minutes into the second half, Félix struck the post. The visitors also had a penalty judgment overturned as replacement Lamine Yamal was brought down in the box.
When Robert Lewandowski left a pass for Raphinha, the reigning Spanish champion appeared to be headed for their first loss of the year when Fermin López scored his first goal for the team to make it 2-2.
Even though there were still 15 minutes left in the game and both teams had chances to win, the score remained a draw, the first time Barça had lost to Mallorca in their previous 11 encounters.
As a result, if Girona or Real Madrid win their respective games on Wednesday, they both have a chance to take first place in the La Liga standings.
“We gifted too much,” Barcelona coach Xavi stated following the game. We committed careless errors… Even though we had possibilities to get back in the game, it was difficult.
We generated enough opportunities to win it normally, but two self-inflicted errors prevented us from doing so.
Barça’s next match is against Sevilla on Friday, and Mallorca, who has only one league victory this year, takes on Rayo Vallecano on Saturday.