Luuk de Jong scored the only goal of the game as Barcelona registered a 1-0 win in Mallorca on Sunday and moved to within one point of the top four in LaLiga.
De Jong led in Oscar Mingueza's cross at the stroke of half-time as Barca took advantage of Rayo Vallecano and Real Sociedad slip-ups this weekend to climb up the table to fifth.
Mallorca, who had lost just once at San Moix in nine league games before the trip to Barca, nearly leveled off late, but Jaime Costa saw his effort brilliantly saved by Marc-Andre ter Stegen. They remain in 15th place, four points from the drop zone.
A COVID-19 outbreak among the Barca squad, coupled with injuries and suspensions, has meant they traveled to Mallorca with only 11 first-team players, including two goalkeepers.
Coach Xavi Hernandez called on eight B-team players to make up the numbers, leaving Barca particularly low in the attack.
Anu Fati, Memphis Depay and Martin Braithwaite were all missing due to injuries, while Usman Dembele, Abde Azlazouli and Philippe Coutinho were among eight players to have missed the match after testing positive for the coronavirus. New signing Ferran Torres is currently unavailable.
De Jong, therefore, was the only first-team available and, along with young Ferran Jatgala and Ilas Akhomach, starred in an impressive first half from Barca.
"I'm happy, really glad we won today, especially with my goal, which was important for the team. The most important thing is the win. It's been a tough first half of the season and it's a good one to win this game today." De Jong said after the match.
Gerard Pique hit a free-kick wide and Elias made a save from Manolo Reina as Barca's provisional team took control early in the match.
Jatgala then turned the goal a short distance from the target, before de Jong struck the woodwork twice. The Dutch striker flicked a Jatgala pass over the post before hitting a brilliant overhead kick from the bar.
De Jong's luck finally changed in the 45th minute. Reina came for Mingueza's cross, but she had nowhere to go and de Jong went into an empty net.
"Luuk is an exemplary professional. There is talk of him leaving, but he works hard and sacrifices himself for the team," Xavi said after the match. "He's an amazing professional. I'm happy with him. Of course I think he can stay, he was useful today. We'll see in the future, for now everything is just a hypothesis."
Mallorca, who themselves were missing four players through COVID-19, improved after the break as Barca gave debuts to two youngsters, Alvaro Sanz and Estanis Pedrola.
The home side made everything late, with Costa's late chance being beaten by ter Stegen's arm as Barca held on for three points before Fer Nino advanced.
Barcelona's Eric Garcia praised ter Stegen for his performance, saying: We give 70% of the win to ter Stegen.
He was splendid. He is a top goalkeeper. We know that he reacts in such moments. Mallorca were building up the pressure and we knew we had to soak it up and we showed we were capable of that."