QUINIX Sport News: Barcelona build seven-point lead on Real Madrid ahead of El Clasico, put up 40 shots in narrow 1-0 victory

Barcelona were able to overcome their finishing woes to go seven points clear of Real Madrid atop La Liga on Tuesday with a 1-0 victory over Mallorca in which they recorded 40 shots. Powered by Dani Olmo and strong saves from Wojciech Szczesny, Barca were able to secure all three points and win their first match without Robert Lewandowski, who was absent with a muscular injury. 

The Portuguese forward was replaced with Ferran Torres in the XI, and the attack responded with 24 shots in the first half along, five of which were on target for an xG of 1.94. It was almost a comedy of misses with Barcelona coming out for shooting practice and just missing the target, but with heavy rotation due to one eye on the Copa del Rey final against Real Madrid on Saturday, some of these issues are to be expected.

Raphinha, Fermin Lopez, Frenkie de Jong, and Jules Kounde all started the match on the bench, while Alejandro Balde & Lewandowski missed out with injuries. This is far from the standard Barcelona setup, and it showed as players teed off from anywhere on the pitch. Yamal took 10 shots of his own, and Barcelona put 13 of 40 on target for an xG of 3.41. But right after the second half got underway, Olmo scored the decisive goal to secure all three points.

Facing registration issues that have kept him in and out of the squad along with dealing with injuries, Olmo hasn’t had a ton of time to show what he can do for Barcelona, but without Lewandowski, he’s someone who will need to step up for them to win matches.

A different number nine

With Torres leading the line, there were clear differences in Barcelona’s attacks. He interchanged in space with Olmo and it was something that Mallorca couldn’t track during the match. While Torres has had to play on the wing for most of the season due to the presence of Lewandowski, it was a strong showing for him despite not scoring. With the rotation, this match was more of a training session for Flick on how they will attack Real Madrid.

With Raphinha, Olmo, Yamal and Torres, there will be enough in the Barcelona attack to trouble Real Madrid. A team doesn’t create 40 chances by accident, and if Barcelona do that again during the weekend, they’ll have done enough to win the game. They’ve already transferred pressure to Real Madrid to win their match facing Getafe on Wednesday, or La Liga may be out of their reach. Even if Torres doesn’t score, he just needs to make sure that those around him have the freedom to do what they need to do, and that’s where his work rate comes in. The rotation didn’t have a major impact on the XI, according to Eric Garcia, especially since they kept a clean sheet.

“We still created a lot of chances. It’s one of those games where if one doesn’t go in, we need to keep going, and that’s also what we did for the whole game,” Garcia said following the match.

One eye forward

Flick has had a tough job protecting his players while also looking to win games, but he’s managed it well, winning their last two La Liga fixtures before the Copa del Rey final and Champions League semifinals. Exiting this match with all three points and no further injuries was the goal, and another thing that shows how good of a job Flick is doing in his first season in charge of Barcelona. While Flick has top attackers at his disposal, even when Barcelona have to go to their depth players, everyone is well drilled in the German coach’s system.

With a treble on the line, there is more work to be done, but Barcelona can secure the first of those trophies on Saturday, while they’ve already come one step closer to securing the La Liga title with their victory on Tuesday.

La Liga standings

Title race: Remaining schedule

1. FC Barcelona — 73 points

Real Vallodolid (A), Real Madrid (H), Espayol (A), Villarreal (H), Athletic Club (A). 

2. Real Madrid — 69 points

Getafe (A), Celta (H), FC Barcelona (A), Mallorca (H), Sevilla (A), Real Sociedad (H).