3 things learned as Barcelona thump Mallorca in La Liga return

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Barcelona’s Spanish coach Quique Setien (C) speaks with his players during the Spanish League football match between RCD Mallorca and FC Barcelona at the Visit Mallorca stadium (Son Moix stadium) in Palma de Mallorca on June 13, 2020. (Photo by JAIME REINA / AFP) (Photo by JAIME REINA/AFP via Getty Images) /

Barcelona players showed little signs of rust

One of the concerns heading into the match was seeing how in shape the players were. Barcelona have a tendency of needing time to get into the rhythm and flow of a game.

Would that be the case this time around and if so, how much time would they need?

Fortunately, Vidal’s opener 65 seconds in seemed to quell some of those concerns.

Perhaps the opponent played some part in that but the club’s record in away games have been dismal this season and the fact that they took the lead so early must have done wonders for their confidence.

With Mallorca now chasing the game, this gave Barcelona some space to play on the counter. After a few turbulent moments, they were able to exploit some of that space which led to Braithwaite’s goal.

Barcelona were able to do a better job of that in the second half which is why they were able to win so comfortably. Because of that, bringing in Luis Suarez early in that half was less risky as they weren’t chasing the game and it allowed the Uruguayan to ease into things following a lengthy absence due to injury.