Barca kickstart title defence with a controversial win at Mallorca

The heat is on, and we're not discussing high temperatures in Spain.

Barcelona have started their La Liga title defence with a 3-0 away win at Mallorca on Saturday night, but we're pretty sure things will get more heated because of some controversial officiating.

Barca had a perfect start to the game, breaking the deadlock after just seven minutes. The Blaugrana's deadly duo, Lamine Yamal-Raphinha, turned on the beast mode early on and the latter headed it home for 1-0.

However, the issues started some 20 minutes later - first, Ferran Torres scored a controversial second for the visitors.

Mallorca defender Antonio Raillo was still on the ground inside the penalty area with a suspected head injury, and his teammates - including the keeper - stalled, but Torres smashed the ball into the top corner.

Despite the Mallorca protests, with Manu Morlanes booked for his angry objections, the goal stood. Nine minutes later, Morlanes made a strong tackle, thus getting his second yellow and being sent off. The agony was not over there, though, as Vedat Muriqi joined him in the stands after his yellow was turned into a red card following a VAR review five minutes later.

Referee Jose Luis Munuera Montero's decisions in the first half triggered many complaints among Mallorca's fans, and some passionate youngsters were even seen crying because of what they believed was injustice.

Anyhow, the result stayed the same, and the Catalans routinely held onto that lead, with Marcus Rashford making his La Liga debut as he came on around the 70th-minute mark.

Rashford's La Liga registration saga finally ended successfully just before the kick-off, but Barcelona coach Hansi Flick decided to go with Ferran Torres from the start and throw the Englishman into the action in the final third of the game.

The last seconds of the match saw Lamine Yamal performing his usual sorcery, nailing it into the far top corner to make it 3-0.

LA LIGA - MATCHDAY 1

Friday

Girona - Rayo Vallecano 1-3 (0-3)

/Roca 57 - De Frutos 18, Garcia 20, Palazon 45 pen/

Villarreal - Oviedo 2-0 (2-0)

/Eyong 29, Gueye 36/

Saturday

Mallorca - Barcelona 0-3 (0-2)

/Raphinha 7, Torres 23, Yamal 90+4/

Alaves - Levante IN PROGRESS

Valencia - Sociedad IN PROGRESS

Sunday

18.00: (1.75) Celta (3.60) Getafe (5.70)

20.30: (1.62) Ath.Bilbao (3.70) Sevilla (6.00)

22.30: (6.25) Espanyol (3.60) Atl.Madrid (1.62)

Monday

22.00: (3.50) Elche (3.35) Betis (2.25)

Tuesday

22.00: (1.28) Real Madrid (5.70) Osasuna (10.5)

***odds are subject to change***