BARCELONA: Ferran Torres scored twice as Barcelona cruised to a comfortable 3-0 victory over Getafe in La Liga on Sunday, with Dani Olmo adding the third goal and an assist in another impressive display by Hansi Flick’s side at their makeshift home venue.

The win keeps the unbeaten Catalans second in the standings with 13 points, trailing leaders Real Madrid by two points after Los Blancos maintained their flawless record with five wins from five matches by beating Espanyol on Saturday.

Atletico Madrid’s stuttering start to the season continued in a 1-1 draw at Mallorca, in which their striker Julian Alvarez missed a penalty.

Playing in front of 6,000 rain-soaked fans at their Sant Joan Despi training ground again as the club waits for the necessary licences to reopen their renovated Camp Nou home, Barca controlled proceedings from the outset, showcasing their depth and resilience despite missing Lamine Yamal for the third consecutive game due to injury.

Torres, who got another chance to start in place of Robert Lewandowski in Flick’s rotation policy, opened the scoring after 15 minutes with a brilliant team move, firing past David Soria after Olmo’s clever back-heel set him up perfectly.

The Spanish forward doubled the advantage in the 34th minute, beating the offside trap from Raphinha’s through ball before delivering a tidy finish just inside the left post.

Barca continued to dominate after the break, and Marcus Rashford, who was rested following his midweek Champions League heroics against Newcastle United, came off the bench to make an immediate impact.

The England international surged down the right flank in the 63rd minute and crossed to Olmo, who scored from inside the box to seal the victory.

The only bad news for Barca was substitute Fermin Lopez appearing to pull up hurt in stoppage time.

Earlier, Atletico were held by Mallorca despite outplaying the hosts, with goalkeeper Leo Roman delivering an outstanding performance before Vedat Muriqi’s late header cancelled out Conor Gallagher’s opener.

The result left Diego Simeone’s side languishing in 12th place with six points from five matches.

Licking their wounds after a painful late Champions League defeat at Liverpool in midweek, Atletico were left with a similar feeling.

“We have to improve to hold on in games... [but] we’re building a new team, a lot of players have come in. We’re on the right path,” said Simeone.

Roman was pivotal for Mallorca, saving Alvarez’s penalty after captain Antonio Raillo handled David Hancko’s shot in the first half.

The Rojiblancos’ job was made harder when Sorloth was dismissed for a high challenge on Raillo in the 72nd minute, but a few minutes later they took the lead as Gallagher netted a rebound.

Simeone’s side could not hold on and Muriqi nodded the hosts level with five minutes remaining.

Earlier on Sunday, Celta Vigo drew 1-1 at Rayo Vallecano, while Elche beat Oviedo 1-0 at home with a ninth-minute goal by Andre Silva in a match between promoted clubs.

Published in Dawn, September 23rd, 2025