Barcelona made a strong start of their La Liga title defense when they defeated Mallorca 3-0 in a fiery meeting at Son Moix. Raphinha, Ferran Torres and Lamine Yamal received the goals in front of Hansi Flick, because the hosts had Manu Morlanes and Vedat Muriqi sent 40 minutes in the opening.
Morlanes saw red for two yellow cards, while Muriqi was fired after landing a boot in the face of Barcelona goalkeeper Joan Garcia. Initially, a yellow card was shown to the Mallorca striker, before a VAR check saw it for red.
Garcia made his Barcelona debut at Son Moix, who was registered only hours before the kick-off. And he got a brutal reminder of the opportunity, as he depicted with an annoying Bumo during interviews after the game.
And during one of those interviews (via MD), Garcia remembered the incident that saw him end with the bump on his right cheek.
“I didn't repeat it, but it touches me in the face. I don't know which part of the body, but it touches me in the face. If the VAR said it was red, I think it will be that way. I will now put on a little ice.”
The two early resignation of Mallorca meant that it was a fairly quiet debut for Garcia, who made only one on the way to a clean slate. Barcelona was pleased to have signed the goalkeeper, City Rivals Espanyol earlier this summer, and they will hope that the match saw the first of many shoutouts with him among the goal posts.
Garcia will now focus his attention on next weekend, with Barcelona opposite Levante in their second game of the La Liga season 2025-26. On that occasion he hopes for another clean slate.