Barcelona thrash Mallorca in Camp Nou farewell, Espanyol relegated

BARCELONA: La Liga 2022/23 champions Barcelona put on a dominant show amid their 3-0 triumph over 10-man Mallorca while also saying goodbye to two club legends Jordi Alba and Sergio Busquets.

Ansu Fati gave Barcelona the best possible start as he struck the opener within the first minute of the action after a great passing sequence down the middle, Robert Lewandowski found Gavi with a delicate backheel flick, who then gave Fati an easy finish.

The home side enhanced their domination over the 12th-placed Mallorca, who were reduced to 10 men after Amath Ndiaye was sent off for a horrific tackle that injured Alejandro Balde.

Spain international Fati then doubled Barcelona’s lead in the 24th minute at the back of an excellent passing by the home side. Barcelona veteran Robert Lewandowski once again played his part in his side’s goal as he set up Fati for an easy finish with a stunning assist.

The La Liga champions went into the break with a 2-0 advantage over Mallorca with Fati leading the chart with twin strikes.

The second half of the fixture featured almost similar domination by Barcelona as the hosts relentlessly made several attempts and created plenty of significant chances against depleted Mallorca’s defence but failed to convert their domination into the third brace.

Barcelona then finally got the reward in the 70th minute of their outstanding show after a brilliant pass from Ousmane Dembele that found Gavi inside the box, who fired a left-footed rocket into the top corner to finally give Barcelona a much-deserved goal.

Barcelona captain Sergio Busquets and defender Jordi Alba also played in their side’s 3-0 win over Mallorca at home for the last time, in the club’s penultimate fixture of the ongoing season, and received warm farewells from the crowd.

Meanwhile, in other La Liga fixtures, Real Sociedad succumbed to a 1-2 loss against Atletico Madrid and yet sealed Champions League qualification for the next season as Villarreal lost 1-2 against Rayo Vallecano.

Whereas, Espanyol was relegated from the top division as a result of Valencia’s Samuel Lino scoring a dramatic equaliser in stoppage time to draw the game level at 2-2.

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