Barcelona’s La Liga title defence began with both dominance on the scoreboard and drama on the pitch, as summer signing Joan García marked his debut with a clean sheet — and a painful reminder of the night.
The 23-year-old goalkeeper, signed from city rivals Espanyol earlier this summer, was thrust into action at Son Moix against Mallorca after being registered only hours before kick-off. Barcelona cruised to a 3–0 victory, courtesy of goals from Raphinha, Ferran Torres, and Lamine Yamal, but the match’s most talked-about moment came in the 36th minute.
Mallorca striker Vedat Muriqi was initially shown a yellow card for a high challenge, but VAR replays revealed his boot had struck García directly in the face. The decision was upgraded to a straight red, leaving the hosts with nine men after Manu Morlanes had already been dismissed for two bookings.
Post-match, García appeared for interviews sporting a visible lump on his right cheek — the “battle scar” from his debut. Speaking to reporters, he recalled:
“I haven’t seen it repeated, but it hits me in the face. I don’t know with what part of the body, but it hits me in the face. If the VAR has said that it was red, I suppose it will be like that. I will put on a little ice now.”
Despite the incident, García had a relatively quiet evening between the posts, making just one save to secure his first clean sheet in Barcelona colours. The club will hope it’s the first of many as they continue their campaign next weekend against Levante.
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