Mallorca 0-3 Barcelona, La Liga 2025-26: Blaugrana Played At 50% Against Nine-Man Opponent, Says Flick

Hansi Flick was in no mood to praise Barcelona after their 3-0 victory over Mallorca in LaLiga, accusing his side of playing at 50% after their hosts were reduced to nine men.

Barca made a winning start to their title defence on Saturday, with Raphinha and Ferran Torres striking inside the first 23 minutes before Lamine Yamal added a late third.

But that barely begins to tell the story of the game, as Mallorca had Manu Morlanes and Vedat Muriqi sent off before half-time.

Morlanes received his second yellow card for chopping down Yamal in full flight, while Muriqi's dismissal was for serious foul play after he caught new Barca goalkeeper Joan Garcia in the face with a high boot.

The Blaugrana kept Mallorca penned back throughout the second half, firing off 17 shots totalling 1.43 expected goals (xG) and hitting the target with six, though they did not add a third goal until the fourth minute of stoppage time.

And Flick was not happy with his players' application with a two-man advantage, telling Movistar: "I didn't like the game. They are three important points, but I didn't like the game. 

"After going 2-0 up and with the red cards, the team played at 50% and I didn't like it at all. We will talk about it. 

"Of course, I didn't like it, we had control of the ball and the game. We have to score and that's all we can say. It's not possible to play at 50 or 60%, even against nine players.

"It was a bit strange, it's not normal that in the first half a team is down by two players. We knew how to play the game. We would have liked to have scored the third goal earlier."

There was also major controversy around Barca's second goal, with Torres picking out the top corner while Mallorca defender Antonio Raillo was on the ground, having been struck in the head by a fierce Yamal shot.

Mallorca's players furiously protested the awarding of the goal and said the game should have been stopped, but Flick said his players could do nothing but play to the whistle.

"I always tell the team that we must play until the referee stops it," he said. "Of course, it is a refereeing decision and we have to accept it."

Mallorca coach Jagoba Arrasate, however, was livid with the goal being given and said referee Jose Luis Munuera Montero had ruined the contest.

"With nine it's impossible. The only positive thing is the effort of the team and the support of the people," he said.

"We will have to take more care of the product... people pay €100 and watch 25 minutes of a game. The fourth official told Montero in front of me to stop, that it was a blow to the head. 

"I thought he had blown the whistle, then I saw that he hadn't. I must have hallucinated a little. When they talk to us, they say that you have to be careful with blows to the head. 

"It has shocked me a lot. When the ball hits you in the head, sometimes you're dizzy. I couldn't believe it when I saw the ball was going back to the centre-circle."

Barcelona visit Levante for their second game of the season next Saturday, while Mallorca host Celta Vigo.