Barcelona has kicked off its La Liga title defense with a 3-0 victory against nine-man Mallorca MADRID -- Barcelona began the defense of its La Liga title with a comfortable 3-0 win at Mallorca, scoring early and taking advantage of two first-half red cards for the host on Saturday.

Barcelona got their LaLiga title defence up and running with a 3-0 win over nine-man Mallorca in an incident-filled encounter at Estadi Mallorca Son Moix. Ferran Torres' 23rd-minute strike was at the centre of attention in the match, with Mallorca also seeing Manu Morlanes and Vedat Muriqi sent off during a chaotic first-half.

But Barcelona’s second-half stroll did not please coach Hansi Flick. Read more at straitstimes.com. Read more at straitstimes.com.