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2025-26 Spanish La Liga
Matchday 1
Real Mallorca v Barcelona
Estadi Mallorca Son Moix
Palma, Spain
Saturday, 16 August 2025
Kick-off is at 19h30
Barcelona will kick off their title defence against Real Mallorca on the opening weekend of the new
La Liga season at Mallorca Son Moix on Saturday, August 16.
The Blaugrana were crowned champions for the 28th time in 2024-25 when they finished four points clear of Real Madrid to reclaim the trophy from their arch-rivals.
Hansi Flick's side lost six of their 38 games last term, the same amount as Los Blancos, Atletico Madrid and Athletic Bilbao, while they did the league double over Los Piratas.
Barca ran out convincing 5-1 victors in the corresponding fixture on 3 December 2024 before claiming a narrow 1-0 win at the Estadi Olímpic Lluís Companys on 22 April 2025.
Clement Lenglet (Atletico Madrid), Sergi Dominguez (Dinamo Zagreb), Pablo Torre (Real Mallorca), Pau Victor (Braga) and Inigo Martínez (Al-Nassr) have all since moved on, with Marcus Rashford (Manchester United), Joan Garcia (Espanyol) and Roony Bardghji (Copenhagen) being added to the squad in the off-season.
Mallorca were in contention for Europe going into the final month of 2024-25, but they lost three of their last five matches to finish in 10th place, four points behind Rayo Vallecano, who qualified for the UEFA Conference League.
Jagoba Arrasate's side were the joint-third-lowest scorers in the league last season, managing just 35 goals, although their defensive record was quite impressive as they conceded just 44 goals which was bettered by only Barcelona, Real Madrid, Atletico Madrid, Athletic Bilbao and Getafe.
The Catalan giants wrapped up their pre-season with a 5-0 rout of Como on August 10 and Flick declared his team ready to challenge for honours once more in 2025-26.
"I think we are ready. The team worked really well and hard also, they showed really good quality in training which is what we want to see. I'm looking forward to the match against Mallorca," the German said.
"I think we have a really good young team, a lot of quality, but in the end it's a long, long way. We start next Saturday in Mallorca and we have to stay focused."
Head-to-Head (Last Five La Liga Meetings)
Matches - 5
Mallorca wins - 0
Barcelona wins - 4
Draws - 1
La Liga Matchday 1 fixtures:
Friday, August 15
19h00: Girona v Rayo Vallecano
21h30: Villarreal v Real Oviedo
Saturday, August 16
17h00: Alaves v Levante
19h30: Real Mallorca v Barcelona
21h30: Valencia v Real Sociedad
Sunday, August 17
17h00: Celta Vigo v Getafe
19h30: Athletic Bilbao v Sevilla
21h30: Espanyol v Atletico Madrid
Monday, August 18
21h00: Elche v Real Betis
Tuesday, August 19
21h00: Real Madrid v Osasuna
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