Yamal's return inspired Barcelona's five-goal rout of Mallorca, says Flick

The return of teenage sensation Lamine Yamal to Barcelona's starting lineup following an injury layoff is what inspired the team to a 5-1 thrashing of Mallorca, manager Hansi Flick said on Tuesday.

During Yamal's four-week absence with an ankle injury, league leader Barcelona picked up only one point in three La Liga matches, allowing the chasing pack, led by Real Madrid, to close the gap at the top to just one point.

The emphatic win on Tuesday at Mallorca finally ended Barca's three-match winless streak, and Flick was quick to highlight the impact that Yamal has on the side.

"Today (Yamal) was very important for us, he always generates positive things for the team," Flick told Movistar Plus.

"He could have scored one or two goals today, he played very well.

"Of course, I am happy with the team performance. In the first half we had a lot of chances and we scored, but, they equalized in a counterattack, but we kept going. The entire team is happy with how things went tonight."

Flick did not even need his star striker Robert Lewandowski to show up against Mallorca. The Polish striker, who is the top-scorer in La Liga with 15 goals, was given the night off after starting all 20 of Barcelona's previous matches across all competitions.

Lewandowski's replacement, Ferran Torres, pounced on some sloppy defending by Mallorca to give the visitor an early lead with a clever strike.

"Lewandowski needed to rest, we had to look after him," Flick said.

"And Ferran (Torres) had a very good game and scored the first goal, it's very important for him, too. Whenever we need him, he's always there. Today we didn't need to play Lewandowski."

Frenkie de Jong and Pau Victor also scored for Barcelona.

Torres opened the scoring in the 12th minute, after Mallorca's defense failed to clear an easy ball from inside the area.

One defender tried to kick it away, but it ended ricocheting off a teammate to give Torres an easy shot on goal.

The host equalized through Vedat Muriqi in a breakaway just before halftime with what was Mallorca's only shot on target, but Raphinha put Barcelona back in front by converting a 56th-minute penalty kick.

He added to the lead in the 74th after a nice assist by Yamal.

Raphinha now has 11 goals in 16 league games this season.

"This is probably my best moment, but I want to do more," Raphinha said. "We knew it was important to win again after three matches in which something was lacking. It wasn't our best match, but it was important to win."

Yamal also helped set up De Jong's goal five minutes later, not long after the midfielder had come off the bench. It was De Jong who then assisted Victor's goal in the 84th.

Barcelona scored five or more goals in a match for the sixth time this season across all competitions. It has outscored opponents 48-17 in the league alone.

Barcelona lost twice in its last three league matches — 2-1 to Las Palmas at home on Saturday and 1-0 at Real Sociedad three rounds ago. Its other setback was a 2-2 draw at Celta Vigo, when it was winning 2-0 until late in the match.

Barca tops the standings on 37 points, four ahead of second-placed Real Madrid, which has two games in hand. Atletico is third on 32 points and has one game in hand.

Agencies