Mallorca 0 - Barcelona 4

Mallorca: Leo Franco; Campano, Lussenhoff, Nadal, Poli; Novo, Lozano, Ibagaza (Robles 85'), Riera (Marcos 46'); Eto'o, Pandiani (Miguel Soler 74'). 4-4-2.
Barcelona: Bonano; Gabri, Christanval, Frank De Boer (Rochemback 46'); Mendieta, Xavi, Cocu, Motta; Iniesta (Gerard 60'); Kluivert, Overmars (Saviola 79'). 3-4-1-2.

Team changes: Mallorca: Pandiani for Marcos / Barcelona: Gabri, Cocu, Mendieta, Iniesta for Puyol, Fernando Navarro, Dani, Riquelme.

Goals:
0-1. 26. Kluivert. Dived forward to head Motta cross down past Leo Franco.
0-2. 44. Overmars. Cut in from left and hit shot which deflected off Lussenhoff.
0-3. 49. Kluivert. Dribbled past Nadal and placed ball in off near post.
0-4. 52. Kliuvert. Took pass from Mendieta and hit back-heel shot past keeper.

Barcelona manager Louis Van Gaal saved his skin after his side won 0-4 at Mallorca. The local press had reported during the week that, following defeats against Rayo Vallecano and Sevilla, Boca Juniors manager Carlos Bianchi had been lined to take over should the team fail to win at the San Moix stadium. Van Gaal decided to go for broke with his "men of confidence", bringing back Gabri, Cocu and Mendieta and drafting in young midfielder Iniesta and leaving Saviola on the bench. He was missing though his two full backs Puyol and Navarro through injury, and Riquelme picked up a "mystery illness" after being told he too would not be in the starting line up.

After a start in which keepers Leo Franco and Bonano were both in action, the turning point came when Novo was sent off after linesman Rafa Guerrero reported to referee Iturralde González that he had felled Motta with a punch. It was a controversial decision, especially given the infamous linesman's past history, but left Motta free to run down the left flank. Within minutes Barça took the lead after a move down that side, Lussenhoff only managing to head Motta's cross on for Kluivert to steer a low header past Leo Franco. Six minutes later Mallorca were left with nine men after Eto'o recklessly chopped down Motta from behind, and when Overmars broke free and added a second goal with a shot which took a deflection off the unfortunate Lussenhoff's leg the game was effectively over.

The second half was just a question of how many goals Barcelona could score, and within four minutes Kluivert glided past Nadal to shoot in off the post. Then three minutes later Mendieta found the Dutch striker with a lifted pass for him to clip the ball cleverly over Leo Franco with the back of his heel to complete his hat-trick. Leo Franco bravely charged down a cannonball from substitute Rochemback and turned away a couple of fierce shots from Mendieta to keep the scoreline decent, but the competition was over. Mallorca fall to their third defeat in a row and drop to seventh, and Barça president Joan Gaspart back-peddled rapidly, confirming that Van Gaal will at least still be in charge when the new year dawns. Whether he stays much longer depends on results. At the moment his side are tenth, but have a lot of ground to make up.