MADRID, Dec. 3 (Xinhua) -- FC Barcelona roared back to winning ways after two defeats and a draw in its last three La Liga matches, with a 5-1 demolition of Mallorca on Tuesday night.
The pressure had been on Hansi Flick's side after a run of poor results and performances, but Ferran Torres quickly steadied early-game nerves in the 11th minute.
Powerful Mallorca striker Vedat Muriqi leveled for Mallorca with a simple finish after great work from Samu Costa three minutes before halftime, but when it looked as if things could get complicated for Barca, Raphinha made it 2-1 from the penalty spot after Lamine Yamal was bundled over.
Mallorca kept falling into Barca's offside trap, and in the 74th minute, Yamal set up Raphinha to score his side's third, with Frenkie de Jong and Pau Victor adding extra sheen to the score in the closing minutes.
In the Copa del Rey knockout competition matches played at the same time, Marcos Andre netted a hat-trick to take the bottom of La Liga Valladolid into the third round, although they needed extra time against fourth-tier Avila, who had led 2-1 with two goals from Adrian Rodriguez early in the second half.
Celta Vigo cruised into the third round with a 7-0 win away to Salamanca in a match they dominated from start to finish against fourth-tier opposition, with youngster Fer Lopez giving a glimpse of his talent with Celta's last two goals of a comfortable win.
Las Palmas striker Ollie McBurnie scored two second-half goals to give his team a third-round place with a narrow 2-1 win away to Europa.
The 117-year-old Barcelona-based club pushed Las Palmas to the end, with Juan Maichas threatening to take the match into extra time with his 55th-minute goal, which leveled McBurnie's opener before the Scottish forward won the game 12 minutes from time.
Espanyol crashed out of the cup, however, as they lost 2-0 away to fourth-tier Barbastro, who again qualified for the third round with two goals from Andreas Barrera. ■
