Mallorca Vs Barcelona, La Liga 2025-26: Joan Garcia Kicked In Face, Brutal Foul Ends In Red Card – WATCH

FC Barcelona secured a dominant 3-0 win over RCD Mallorca at Estadi Mallorca San Moix, marking a strong start to their La Liga title defence. However, a moment that threatened to derail the match was when Barcelona’s debutant goalkeeper Joan Garcia was struck square in the face by a reckless high boot from Vedat Muriqi, resulting in a red card for the Mallorca striker.

In the 36th minute of the La Liga 2025-26 matchday 1 fixture at San Moix, Muriqi challenged for a loose ball towards Barcelona’s penalty box, catching Joan Garcia in the face with his left foot.

The referee had initially shown a yellow card, but VAR called for a review, prompting the referee to upgrade the decision to a red card.

With Manu Morales having earned his second yellow card just minutes earlier, Muriqi’s expulsion left the home side down to nine men.

Despite going down to nine, Mallorca did exceedingly well against an in-form Barcelona side. The visitors had already taken a 2-0 lead through Raphinha (7’) and Ferran Torres (23’), but had to wait until stoppage time for Lamine Yamal to add a third goal.

Meanwhile, Joan Garcia will hope that his second appearance for his new club Barcelona goes better than his league debut. The 24-year-old almost missed out on the match after suffering an injury to his finger while warming up before the match, but eventually made his bow.

The reckless challenge from Muriqi, thankfully, did not cause lasting damage to the former Espanyol custodian. As Marc-Andre Ter Stegen is out for four months, Barcelona will hope that their new number one remains fit for the early stages of the season.