Madrid, Jan 1: Struggling to get into contention after a poor start to the season, former champions FC Barcelona will hope that things improve in the New Year when they restart their campaign against Mallorca after the winter break.
Barcelona are currently placed seventh in the La Liga standings while are placed 15th. Barca coach Xavi will be looking forward to his team winning three points considering Barcelona’s total domination of their rivals in head-to-head stats.
Back in the 1999-2000 season, Mallorca beat Barca both home and away, but in 27 league meetings since then, Barca have only lost to the islanders three times (and twice at home), although all of those were late-season encounters without too much left to play for.
Barca’s last four games against Mallorca have all seen them win by scoring four or more goals.
The most famous meeting between the teams was the 1998 Copa del Rey Final, which Barça won on penalties, the fatal Mallorca kick being missed by a former Barça player,
However, Barcelona’s recent form has been up and down and inferior to their rivals. In their last five matches, Barcelona have only against Eiche, losing to Boca Juniors in a club friendly and Bayern Munich in Champions League. The remaining two matches against Sevilla and Osasuna have ended in draws.
Mallorca on the other hand have won three of their last five matches, losing one and drawing another.