Mallorca seeks to torpedo the Barça party
Day of tributes and farewells to Busquets, Alba and the current Camp Nou
BARCELONA, 27 May. (EUROPA PRESS) –
FC Barcelona receives RCD Mallorca this Sunday (7:00 p.m.) in a Spotify Camp Nou that will continue to party, this time with a triple farewell to two of the captains, Sergio Busquets and Jordi Alba, and to the stadium itself, which will miss the next season to completely rebuild and become the new blaugrana stronghold, with some Balearic Islands who want to be the annoying guest of the event since they still have options, albeit remote, to get a European place for the following season.
Barça continues without playing anything, already celebrated its conquest of LaLiga Santander. But this time, beyond wanting to put an end to their two consecutive defeats, Xavi Hernández’s men have the added motivation of wanting to fire Sergio Busquets and Jordi Alba, who will leave the entity at the end of the season as two historical figures and legends, and say ‘see you soon’ to your house in the best way.
The works of the new Spotify Camp Nou, jewel of the ‘Espai Barça’, are just around the corner and the club has prepared a farewell in style. However, it will be the well-deserved homage to ‘Busi’ and Alba on which the whole day revolves. Two captains are leaving, two mainstays of Barça in recent times. Two players who have won everything and who will receive the love of their fans for the last time (at least as players).
Without a doubt, a luxurious opportunity to say goodbye in style. To do this, the Blaugrana team will have to comply on the pitch and put an end to their recent losing streak, the result of relaxation after knowing they were champions and ‘hangover’ from the previous celebration parties. It had been three seasons since the League had been won, but against Mallorca, in the last match at home, it was time to win and forget the 1-2 against Real Sociedad and the 3-1 against Valladolid.
Xavi still has doubts, those presented by the headdresses Pedri, Ronald Araujo and Jules Koundé. The rest are fully available and there will be players who could have a ‘last’ chance, such as Ansu Fati who has not been able to be the decisive player he was before his injuries this season, or Marcos Alonso who continues to be too irregular at the back. But it will be a day of confirmations, too, since Robert Lewandowski wants to continue ‘wetting’ in search of the Pichichi and him, Marc-André Ter Stegen, recover his unbeaten status to celebrate Zamora.
But in that triple party, which will have entertainment before, during and after the game with the speeches of the honorees, it is intended to sneak a Mallorca that, with two days to go, still has options to get into Europe, in the Conference League. To do this, you must earn what you have left and wait for a combination of results favorable to your interests.
Javier Aguirre’s men arrive on a roller coaster, interspersing victories with defeats. On the last day they beat Valencia at home (1-0) and with this their continental dream continues. The Conference League would be a great prize and the finishing touch to their season, but it does not depend on them. What is in the hands of the ‘vermillions’ is to assault the current Camp Nou, leave them without a party and be able to play it all on the last day, in which they will receive Rayo Vallecano.
They will seek this goal without Antonio Sánchez or Kang-In Lee, suspended for this penultimate day of the league, and without the injured Íñigo Ruiz de Galarreta, Matija Nastasic, Antonio Raíllo and Ludwig Augustinsson. The rest will be available to the Mexican coach, who will surely motivate his men well to try to torpedo this party for a Barça that, for mental health and pride, needs to succeed and pay homage to Busquets and Alba as they deserve and tell their feud ‘fins aviat, Camp Nou’ with a smile.
DATASHEET.
–POSSIBLE ALIGNMENTS.
FC BARCELONA: Ter Stegen; Balde, Christensen, Marcos Alonso, Jordi Alba; Busquets, Gavi, De Jong; Dembele, Lewandowski and Ansu Fati.
RCD MALORCA: Rajkovic; Maffeo, Copete, Valjent, Hadzikadunic, Jaume Costa; Baba, Morlanes, Dani Rodriguez, Amath; and Muriqi.
–REFEREE: Figueroa Vázquez (C. Andaluz).
–STADIUM: Spotify Camp Nou.
–TIME: 19.00/Movistar LaLiga TV.