The day after Real Madrid's coronation, sealed by a 4-0 victory over Espanyol Barcelona on Saturday at the Santiago-Bernabéu, the Blaugranas widened the gap thanks to goals from Memphis Depay (25th) and captain Sergio Busquets (54th). ) before the score reduction by Majorcan captain Antonio Raillo (79th), in a match which was also marked by the return of the prodigy Ansu Fati.

The young jewel of Barça, heir to Lionel Messi's N.10, entered the game in the 75th minute at the same time as Ousmane Dembélé in place of Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, and was given a standing ovation by the entire Camp Nou, which stood up to welcome his nugget.

Barcelona midfielder Ansu Fati (d) and French striker Ousmane Dembélé (2nd g) prepare to return to the Camp Nou lawn during the match of the 34th day of LaLiga against Mallorca, May 1, 2022 Pau BARRENA AFP

Absent since October (he had only played two small matches in November and two others at the start of January, before injuring himself again), the young Spanish international, who extended until 2027 in October, still embodies the hope of the Blaugranas supporters, despite knee and hamstring injuries that kept him away from the field for many months.

Barça, on the other hand, may have lost their defensive flagship Gerard Pique, who left the lawn in the 28th minute, visibly injured in the left adductor.

Busquets, a rare goal

Despite this, the Catalans found the resources to extricate themselves from the bad patch they were going through until then.

Taking advantage of a very efficient left lane, Xavi's men found the fault with a long deep pass from Jordi Alba for Memphis Depay in the middle.

Then on returning from the locker room Sergio Busquets inherited a ball at the entrance to the area and sent it into the back of the net with a cross shot from the left.

Only his 18th goal in 677 appearances at Barça.

The joy of defender Sergio Busquets (c) and his teammates, after scoring the second goal for Barcelona against Mallorca, at the end of the 34th day of LaLiga, May 1, 2022 at Camp Nou Pau BARRENA AFP

Ferran Torres scored the 3-0 goal well at the end of a scramble (73rd), but his goal was canceled by the VAR for an offside position.

And in the process, Mallorcan captain Antonio Raillo pushed Salva Sevilla's long free-kick into Marc-André ter Stegen's net to close the gap.

Insufficient for Mallorca, who will have to continue to fight for the maintenance until the end of the season.

The Balearic club is only one point ahead of the first relegation player, Granada, hung by Celta Vigo in the afternoon (1-1).

The other two matches of the day also ended with the score of 1-1: Osasuna were hooked in Elche, and Real Sociedad on the lawn of Rayo Vallecano.

© 2022 AFP