All the hope of humanity was always in the hands of a boy, who grew as he defeated rivals, overcame challenges, lived adventures, progressed in his powers until he became a super space warrior. It was the plot of Bola de Drac, whose creator died on March 1, as was learned this Friday. It is the story of Barcelona, ??saved by a teenager who is old enough to watch cartoons at snack time and who is deciding matches in the elite, beating opponents twice his age and size. Lamine Yamal unblocked Barça with a brilliant goal after stopping as if in slow motion to find the gap, a gesture that would have delighted Akira.

It was celebrated in style despite being 1-0 against the third lowest scoring team in the League. The super warrior Lamine Yamal dressed as Son Goku and rescued Barça when he seemed to have everything against him in an ending worthy of an anime series. In a world full of egos and stars, the kid is the hero.

On a cold night in which Aguirre’s Mallorca arrived, one of the rivals with the most skill, who gives the least and makes the rhythm more difficult, Barcelona chose to complicate their lives. Xavi, sanctioned for accumulation of cards, did the opposite of what he said. He thought about Naples and the Champions League when he rested Lewandowski before the League.

The Blaugrana are that team that dreams of making a splash in Europe and that depends on three kids from the quarry of 16, 17 and 18 years old. The winger Lamine Yamal and the central defender Cubarsí are already established due to the position and responsibility with which they play despite being youth players, but Marc Guiu was chosen to play as a nine, ahead of Vitor Roque, the Brazilian with the 30 million plus 31 , who has only started once since he landed.

Barça initially played with four centre-backs (one as a winger and another as a pivot) and four pure forwards (one as an interior). So it was not surprising that the only one in charge on the field was Gündogan, who had to multiply to be at the base of the play and also at the moment of giving the last pass.

The losses of De Jong and Pedri represented a missile to the line of organization of the Blaugrana game because Christensen, who has already played seven games in a row as a midfielder, hardly gives rhythm to the circulation and Raphinha always aims to be electric and manages to rush into each creative action .

Against a defense of five and with João Félix completely resigned, all the imbalance was pending on Lamine Yamal, who initially suffered from the last two substitutions and was timid. However, the boy appeared to be vertical and assist Raphinha in speed, who stood in the area where Copete stepped on his right ankle. The Brazilian complained a lot – in fact he was injured and had to be substituted – but the referee only ordered a penalty after watching the images on the VAR for a while.

From 11 meters and without Lewandowski, Gündogan (as in Las Palmas on January 4) took responsibility but the German telegraphed his shot to the left of Rajkovic, who avoided the 1-0 lead. Barcelona made that unforgivable mistake of failing to do the easy thing against a team that makes everything difficult like the rocky Mallorca, which also carried danger in the transitions of Larin and Muriqi, well controlled by the impenetrable Cubarsí and Iñigo Martínez, in the absence of Araújo , also sanctioned.

In case there were few young people, the entry of another boy from the house, Fermín, Raphinha’s substitute, also helped to end the first half well, first with a combination between the lines and then with a header that almost surprised the Serbian goalkeeper. Majorca.

A header from Muriqi hit the crossbar made Montjuïc tremble, no matter how much the spectators made the wave at 0-0, and woke up Lamine Yamal. The winger responded with a left footed shot that also hit the crossbar while Lewandowski and Vitor Roque were called upon. It was the prelude to another screwball shot from 27 that this time did hit the net. The youngest of the team dressed as a savior with his silk left foot. The inspiration of a youth saved Barcelona with more than a quarter of an hour left but the 1-0 score had the flavor of an epic. Lamine Yamal is touched by a wand, unlike others that cost more and are worth less. And that’s what Barça clings to. It’s the little he has left.

Barcelona: Ter Stegen, Kounded, Cubarsi, Inigo Martinez, Cancelo, Christensen, Raphinha (Fermin 37), Gündogan (Romeu 87), Lamine Yamal, João Felix (Vitor Roque 62) and Marc Guiu (Lewandowski 62).

Coach: Xavi Hernández

Mallorca: Rajkovic, Gio Gonzalez, Nastasic, Raillo, Copete (Radonjic 82), Lato (Jaume Costa 71), Darder (Antonio Sanchez 71), Samu, Morlanes (Dani Rodriguez 61), Larin (Abdon 82) and Muriqi.

Coach: Javier Aguirre

Stadium: Lluís Companys (38,225 spectators)

Referee: Iglesias Villanueva (c. Galician).

Cards: Yellow cards for Iñigo Martinez and Samú Costa.

Goal: 1-0 Lamine Yamal (73).