BARCELONA: Robert Lewandowski and Lamine Yamal scored as Barcelona eased to a comfortable 3-0 win over Mallorca on Saturday to move four points clear at the top of La Liga.
The champions extended the gap to Real Madrid in second before Alvaro Arbeloa’s side visits Valencia on Sunday, with Marc Bernal also on target late on at the partially reopened Camp Nou stadium.
“We knew Mallorca are a hard team to score against and that’s how it was,” Barca midfielder Marc Casado told Movistar.
“In the second half they were more tired and we were able to find the gaps.”
Mallorca target man Vedat Muriqi came close early on as he slid in at the back post but hit the side netting, while Jan Virgili’s shot was saved by Joan Garcia.
Marcus Rashford added some urgency into Barca’s game after a slow start, curling inches wide of the far post after cutting in from the left.
A blocked shot from the England international led to the opener, with Dani Olmo knocking the rebound to Lewandowski to finish from close range on 29 minutes.
Rashford’s dangerous free-kick was tipped onto the bar by Mallorca stopper Leo Roman, and Yamal missed from point blank range as Jules Kounde sent the rebound into his path.
The 18-year-old made amends in the second half with a superb shot from outside the area which left Roman with no chance.
It was his fourth goal in four games, with Yamal in his best form of the season.
Casado struck the crossbar with a deflected effort as Barca could have opened up a wider lead.
At the other end, Garcia earned his clean sheet with a good save to thwart Antonio Sanchez, before Bernal rounded off Barca’s victory.
The 18-year-old midfielder broke in behind the Mallorca defense, showed composure to open up a shooting angle and finished with the aid of a deflection, his first goal for the club.
Bernal broke into the first team at the start of last season but a severe knee injury in August 2024 kept him out for around a year.
“It’s a great joy for him, when a player has such a bad injury we all feel it, we suffered with him... I’m very happy for him,” said Casado.
Earlier on Saturday, La Liga postponed Rayo Vallecano’s home match against Real Oviedo because of the condition of the pitch at the Madrid’s side’s Vallecas stadium.
They later moved Sevilla’s home game against Girona, scheduled for a 1730 GMT slot on Saturday, to Sunday because of adverse weather conditions.
Barca beat Mallorca to extend Liga lead
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Barca beat Mallorca to extend Liga lead
- “We knew Mallorca are a hard team to score against and that’s how it was,” Casado told Movistar
- Marcus Rashford added some urgency into Barca’s game after a slow start
Middle East war puts Asian Football Confederation in a tricky situation
- Asian football has long been structured around regions, with competitions split between East and West
- With conflict in the Middle East escalating on Feb. 28, the AFC was forced into emergency mode as the knockout stages of its club competitions approach
DAMMAM: Football in Asia has never been an easy task to manage. Long flights, numerous time zones, conflicting calendars, vastly different football cultures and — perhaps more than any other confederation in the world — politics.
While the war in the Middle East falls under the AFC’s umbrella, its direct effects have so far been limited to the clubs in West Asia. Asian football has long been structured around regions, with competitions split between East and West, although for a period, the second-tier AFC Cup operated in five separate regions.
As a result, AFC club competitions in East Asia continued uninterrupted in the first week of March. A crowd of 31,225 watched Johor Darul Ta’zim’s historic 3-1 victory over Sanfrecce Hiroshima in the AFC Champions League Elite round of 16. Bangkok United defeated Tampines Rovers in the AFC Champions League Two quarter-final, and an all-Cambodian clash between Phnom Penh Crown and PKR Svay Rieng in the AFC Challenge League ended in a 4-1 victory for the visitors.
The situation in West Asia, however, is vastly different.
With the conflict in the Middle East escalating on Feb. 28, the AFC was forced into emergency mode as the knockout stages of its club competitions approach.
Within 24 hours, the confederation announced that all first-leg matches involving West Asian clubs in AFC competitions would be rescheduled until further notice. The same decision was taken for the second-leg matches fixtures just 48 hours later.
Domestic football has also been heavily disrupted. Leagues in Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait and Lebanon have been postponed indefinitely, with matches continuing behind closed doors in Jordan.
Leagues in Saudi Arabia, Oman, Iraq and Syria continue to operate, but flights in the region are limited.
With the season already compressed by the FIFA Arab Cup, FIFA Intercontinental playoffs and the upcoming FIFA World Cup, member associations throughout the Middle East now find themselves scrambling alongside the AFC to solve a problem that ultimately lies outside their control.
Another issue looms on the horizon. The AFC Champions League final stage will be hosted in Saudi Arabia next month for the second year in a row. While football has not halted in the Kingdom and the security situation is stable, it remains to be seen whether East Asian clubs will be willing to travel if the conflict continues.
What is the real solution, fans ask?
One proposal that has been circulated is to centralize the knockout rounds from the Round of 16 stage instead of the quarter-finals. That option, however, presents its own challenges. East Asian clubs have already begun their journey in the round of 16, and the idea of centralized hosting has historically not been popular across the continent.
When Saudi Arabia and Qatar were selected to host the AFC World Cup Qualifiers fourth round last year, the decision sparked backlash from Indonesia, Iraq, Oman and the UAE. More recently, journalist Ali Al-Marshoud claimed on Saudi sports program “In the 90” that the UAE’s Al-Wasl rejected a proposal for their AFC Champions League Two quarter-final against Al-Nassr as a single-leg match in Jeddah.
The AFC therefore finds itself in a difficult position. It cannot control regional geopolitics, nor can it influence government policies. At the same time, there is no guarantee that East Asian clubs will travel to the region, or that West Asian clubs will agree to surrender their right to play matches at home.
The conflict has also begun to affect international football.
With the FIFA World Cup intercontinental playoffs scheduled for later this month and Iraq facing a crucial qualifier in Mexico on March 31, uncertainty continues to grow.
In a statement released by the Iraqi Football Association, officials confirmed they were in constant contact with FIFA and the AFC regarding potential travel complications.
Head coach Graham Arnold is currently unable to leave the UAE, while several players and staff have struggled to obtain visas to Mexico due to embassy closures. All the while flights through Iraqi airspace have been suspended.
Political complications are not new to Asian football. For years, Saudi and Iranian clubs played each other at neutral grounds. Conflicts in Syria, Palestine, Iraq and Lebanon also forced the AFC to adopt special arrangements at various times. And of course, the COVID-19 pandemic, which fundamentally reshaped the state of football in Asia.
Yet the current situation presents a different scale of challenge.
For the first time in modern history, the AFC must navigate a regional conflict that touches nearly every part of the confederation. With the season entering its decisive stages and the largest World Cup in history approaching, solutions must be found quickly, or Asian football risks a crisis that could reshape the continental game.
