Barcelona begin their La Liga title defence with a 3-0 win over nine-man Mallorca in a chaotic contest at Estadi de Son Moix.
Raphinha opened the scoring after just seven minutes, heading in a cross from Lamine Yamal.
Ferran Torres doubled the lead midway through the first half, capitalising on confusion as Mallorca’s players stopped play with Antonio Raillo injured in the box.
Despite protests, the goal stood, and Torres’ strike was quickly followed by further setbacks for the hosts.
Manu Morlanes was sent off after receiving two yellow cards in quick succession, and Mallorca were reduced to nine men before half-time when Vedat Muriqi was dismissed following a VAR review for a high boot on Eric Garcia.
Barcelona pressed for a third after the interval, with Dani Olmo and Raphinha both going close, before Yamal sealed the win deep into stoppage time with a curling effort.
Debutant Marcus Rashford had minimal impact after he was introduced in the second half, confirming his La Liga registration earlier reported by gistreel.com.
Barcelona have named Marcus Rashford in their matchday squad for Saturday’s La Liga opener against Mallorca, after registration confirmed.
Although the Manchester United loanee is still awaiting final registration clearance, Rashford’s paperwork are expected to be done before the kick-off of their game.
The Catalan club managed to register goalkeeper Joan Garcia on Friday, with head coach Hansi Flick remaining optimistic the England international will be cleared in time, with the forward badly needed in Robert Lewandowski’s absence.
Flick’s squad list confirms Rashford among four attacking options alongside Lamine Yamal, Raphinha and Ferran Torres.
Barcelona are relying on additional funds raised from the sale of a 50% sell-on clause for former player Francisco Trincao to finalise the process.
Alongside Rashford and Garcia, Flick has also included four La Masia graduates in the travelling squad – Jofre Torrents, Guillermo Fernandez, Dro and Toni Fernandez.
Barcelona’s attempt to exploit La Liga’s injury exemption rule to register a new goalkeeper has hit a major snag, as Marc-André ter Stegen refuses to authorize the release of his medical records.
Following surgery on his back, the club hoped to use the injury rule, which permits clubs to replace players out for four months or more by reallocating 50-80% of their salary.
Barça planned to bring in Joan Garcia under this provision.
However, La Liga are refusing to process ter Stegen’s medical report without his signed consent.
Despite Barcelona claiming they have legal grounds to bypass his approval under data protection exemptions, the league insists the rules are clear, no signature, no review.
Cadena SER reports that unless ter Stegen relents, the Blaugrana will be blocked from registering Garcia or any replacement using the injury rule.
Barcelona had planned to meet the goalkeeper upon returning from South Korea to resolve the issue.
However, Diario AS now says the meeting has been cancelled.
The club, reportedly incensed by ter Stegen’s stance, believes he is acting in bad faith and undermining the team.
Without a breakthrough, Barcelona may enter the new La Liga season without a registered senior goalkeeper to cover ter Stegen’s prolonged absence.
In a statement, Cadiz demanded a review of the last moments of their match with Elche since VAR was ineffective in stopping a late equalizer they conceded.
On Monday night, the club was just minutes away from a crucial win in their relegation battle when Ezequiel Ponce equalized for the visitors.
According to a video circulating online, Ponce came back from an offside position to help spark a move that he eventually finished with a bullet header.
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Cadiz were left fuming at VAR following the decision to allow Elche's equaliser in last night's 1-1 draw in La Liga.
Replays showed that Ezequiel Ponce, who scored Elche's goal, was offside in the build-up.https://t.co/5AwPZSgbtG
Cadiz, who are currently 18th in La Liga, expressed disappointment that the goal was allowed to stand. The club also threatened legal action as a result of the two points loss.
The statement read;
“Today, January 17, 2023, the legal services of CÁDIZ CF SAD have submitted to the competent federative authorities, a brief challenging the meeting held before ELCHE, C.F., S.A.D, by virtue of which the annulment is requested of the well-deserved match and its resumption from minute 81 of it, at which time the refereeing team validated the goal scored by the ELCHE, C.F., S.A.D. D. Ezequiel Ponce, despite being preceded by a resounding and flagrant offside, not susceptible to interpretation, as shown by the images of the match.
“Quite the contrary, if necessary at the end of the season, depending on the sporting and economic damages that may be inferred from the final classification of CÁDIZ, C.F., S.A.D. In the First Division category, this Entity will evaluate the exercise of as many legal actions that assist it in Law, including the action of patrimonial responsibility against the persons, physical or legal, that in the last instance must respond for the damages and losses caused to CÁDIZ , C.F., S.A.D.”
The Catalan giants welcomed their legendary midfielder back as head coach after sacking Ronald Koeman due to consecutive bad results.
xavi hernandez
Barcelona got the go ahead from Al Sadd to start talks with Xavi who has been with the Qatar side since 2019 aftter they paid the buyout clause in his contract.
“FC Barcelona have reached an agreement with Xavi Hernandez for him to become first team coach for the rest of the current season and two more seasons,” the club said in a statement that was headlined “WELCOME BACK HOME, XAVI!”
xavi hernandez
Barca welcomed the midfielder who played for 17 years and made 767 appearances winning 25 trophies, including four Champions League wins and eight league titles.
Xavi shared a video after the news was confirmed saying ; “It wasn’t goodbye, it was ‘see you soon’. The Camp Nou has always been my home,” Xavi said in a video addressed to the fans. You’re my fans, my people, the club that I love the most. And now, I’m coming home. See you soon, Culers. Forca Barca!”
xavi hernandez
Xavi will be unveiled on Monday before his managerial career starts at the club November 20 after the international break.
