A spirited display and brace from Ante Budimir wasn’t enough to avoid leaving Camp Nou empty handed as we fell to a 5-2 defeat against FC Barcelona.
Vicente Moreno made one change to his side following our defeat to Real Betis last week, replacing the suspended Lumor with Joan Sastre.
Despite a promising start with a handful of early half-chances, Antoine Griezmann punished us with a swift counter attack seven minutes into the clash.
Six-time Balon D’or winner Lionel Messi made matters worse 10 minutes later, curling a strike into the far corner from the edge of the box.
Down but not out, Ante Budimir pulled one back just after the half-hour mark, latching onto Salva Sevilla’s pass before his effort deflected off Clement Lenglet and looped over Marc-André ter Stegen.
On the verge of half-time, Messi struck again from outside the area while Luis Suarez added a fourth with a contender for goal of the season using his heel.
We came out after the break fighting and got our reward on the 65th minute when Budimir rose highest in the box to meet Fran Gamez’s cross and keep hope of a potential comeback alive.
Substitute and debutant ‘Cucho’ Hernandez came closest to shortening the lead to just one goal but was denied by ter Stegen’s reflexes.
Messi’s hat-trick in the 83rd minute put the game beyond our late surges as we were unable to avoid defeat.
RCD Mallorca: M. Reina, Sastre, Valjent, Raíllo, Gámez, Salva Sevilla (58’), Baba (71’), Febas, Dani Rodríguez, Kubo, Budimir (85’)
Substitutes: Fabricio, Señé (71’), Xisco Campos, Abdón (85’), Chavarria, Sedlar, Cucho Hernández (58’)
FC Barcelona: Ter Stegen, Pique, Lenglet, Roberto, Júnior, Rakitić (71’), De Jong (64’), Sergio, Suárez, Griezmann (85’), Messi
Substitutes: Neto, Todibo, Moussa Wagué, Aleñá (71’), Vidal (64’), Umtiti, Pérez (85’)
Goals: Antoine Griezmann, 1-0 (7’), Lionel Messi, 2-0 (17’), Ante Budimir, 2-1 (35’) Lionel Messi, 3-1 (41’), Luis Suarez 4-1 (43’), Ante Budimir 4-2 (64’), Lionel Messi, 5-2 (83’)
