Barcelona drop to fourth place after frustrating draw with Mallorca
Mallorca has found a formula for success in stalling the giants of the Spanish league. After holding Real Madrid to a scoreless draw in their opening match of the season, Mallorca were at it again scoring
an equalizer just before half time to earn a 1-1 draw against Barcelona.
In typical fashion, the Blaugrana controlled the game and dominated the match but were unable to find the target in the second half and collect a win.
Barcelona imposed their will early on in the match dominating 90 percent of possession in the opening quarter of an hour, and barely allowing Mallorca out of their own half.
After going ahead in the 21st minute on a strike from Lionel Messi, Mallorca got themselves back into the match against the run of play when midfielder Emilio Nsue Lopez headed the ball home off a corner
kick.
The second half progressed in much the same fashion as the first with Barcelona completely dominating possession but unable to find that perfect pass which might lead to a break through on goal. Although
Lionel Messi, and Barcelona's Brazilian fullback Dani Alves were continual threats every time they headed toward the Mallorca goal area, the visitors did manage to apply some pressure on the Barcelona goal as the match wore on.
The closest Barcelona came to getting a winner came when Bojan Krkic was put through clear on goal only to see his effort come back off the post.
With Real Madrid posting an impressive 6-1 thrashing of Deportivo on Sunday night, and Valencia and Villareal also both managing victories over the weekend, the result against Mallorca drops the Catalans
down to fourth place on 13 points.
"We had a lot of goalscoring chances and we need to finish them off to not suffer. We have to think this is only a stumble," Barcelona defender Pique said about his team's performance.
Barcelona will now have two weeks to prepare for their next league match, which will surely be their biggest to date, as they will take on the league leaders Valencia at the Camp Nou.
For Mallorca, the draw against Barcelona sees them inch higher in the standings into the top ten. They will take on the other team in Barcelona, Espanyol, in two weeks as European leagues take a
week off to make room Euro 2012 qualifying matches slated to take place over the next week.
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