Raphinha scores 2 and Barcelona ends Spanish league slump with 5-1 rout of Mallorca

MADRID (AP) — Barcelona got back to winning in the Spanish league in style, routing Mallorca 5-1 on Tuesday with a pair of goals by Raphinha.

Ferran Torres, Frenkie de Jong and Pau Víctor also scored for Barcelona, which hadn't won in three consecutive league games to allow Real Madrid to inch closer at the top of the standings. Madrid is now four points back although it has two games in hand.

Torres, who got to start in place of league-leading scorer Robert Lewandowski, opened the scoring in the 12th minute after Mallorca defenders failed to clear an easy ball from inside the area. One defender tried to kick it away but it ended ricocheting off a teammate to give Ferran an easy shot on goal.

The hosts equalized with Vedat Muriqi in a breakaway just before halftime in what was Mallorca's only shot on target, but Raphinha put Barcelona back in front by converting a 56th-minute penalty kick. He added to the lead in the 74th after a nice assist by Lamine Yamal.

Raphinha now has 11 goals in 16 league games this season.

“This is probably my best moment, but I want to do more,” Raphinha said. “We knew it was important to win again after three matches in which something was lacking. It wasn't our best match, but it was important to win.”

Yamal also helped set up De Jong's goal five minutes later, not long after the midfielder had come off the bench. It was De Jong who then assisted Víctor's goal in the 84th.

Barcelona has scored five or more goals in a match for the sixth time this season across all competitions. It has outscored opponents 48-17 in the league alone.

Barcelona had lost twice in its last three league matches — 2-1 to Las Palmas at home on Saturday and 1-0 at Real Sociedad three rounds ago. Its other setback was a 2-2 draw at Celta Vigo when it was winning 2-0 until late in the match.

The game against Mallorca was moved forward in the schedule because both clubs will be playing in the Spanish Super Cup in January. Real Madrid and Athletic Bilbao, the other two clubs in the Super Cup, will meet on Wednesday in Bilbao.

Barcelona, which beat Brest in the Champions League last week, will visit Real Betis in its next league match on Saturday. Mallorca, sitting in sixth place in the Spanish league, faces Celta on Friday. Mallorca was coming off two straight league victories — against Valencia and at Las Palmas.

In the second round of the Copa del Rey, fourth-division club Barbastro ousted top-flight club Espanyol 2-0, while Celta Vigo trounced Salamanca 7-0, Las Palmas defeated Europa 2-1 and Valladolid beat Ávila 4-2.

AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer

Barcelona's Raphinha touches the club logo on his shirt after after scoring his side's third goal during a Spanish La Liga soccer match between Mallorca and Barcelona at the Son Moix stadium in Palma de Mallorca, Spain, Tuesday, Dec. 3, 2024. (AP Photo/Jose Breton)

Barcelona's Raphinha celebrates after scoring his side's third goal during a Spanish La Liga soccer match between Mallorca and Barcelona at the Son Moix stadium in Palma de Mallorca, Spain, Tuesday, Dec. 3, 2024. (AP Photo/Jose Breton)

Barcelona's Lamine Yamal, left challenges for the ball with Mallorca's Johan Mojica during a Spanish La Liga soccer match between Mallorca and Barcelona at the Son Moix stadium in Palma de Mallorca, Spain, Tuesday, Dec. 3, 2024. (AP Photo/Jose Breton)

Mallorca's Samu Costa, left, challenges for the ball with Barcelona's Lamine Yamal during a Spanish La Liga soccer match between Mallorca and Barcelona at the Son Moix stadium in Palma de Mallorca, Spain, Tuesday, Dec. 3, 2024. (AP Photo/Jose Breton)

Mallorca's Pablo Maffeo, left, challenges for the ball with Barcelona's Lamine Yamal during a Spanish La Liga soccer match between Mallorca and Barcelona at the Son Moix stadium in Palma de Mallorca, Spain, Tuesday, Dec. 3, 2024. (AP Photo/Jose Breton)

Barcelona's Ferran Torres, right, celebrates after scoring the opening goal during a Spanish La Liga soccer match between Mallorca and Barcelona at the Son Moix stadium in Palma de Mallorca, Spain, Tuesday, Dec. 3, 2024. (AP Photo/Jose Breton)

Barcelona players celebrate after Ferran Torres scored the opening goal during a Spanish La Liga soccer match between Mallorca and Barcelona at the Son Moix stadium in Palma de Mallorca, Spain, Tuesday, Dec. 3, 2024. (AP Photo/Jose Breton)

Barcelona's Ferran Torres celebrates after scoring the opening goal during a Spanish La Liga soccer match between Mallorca and Barcelona at the Son Moix stadium in Palma de Mallorca, Spain, Tuesday, Dec. 3, 2024. (AP Photo/Jose Breton)

Barcelona's Ferran Torres celebrates after scoring the opening goal during a Spanish La Liga soccer match between Mallorca and Barcelona at the Son Moix stadium in Palma de Mallorca, Spain, Tuesday, Dec. 3, 2024. (AP Photo/Jose Breton)

Barcelona's Ferran Torres, right, celebrates with Raphinha after scoring the opening goal during a Spanish La Liga soccer match between Mallorca and Barcelona at the Son Moix stadium in Palma de Mallorca, Spain, Tuesday, Dec. 3, 2024. (AP Photo/Jose Breton)

Barcelona's Raphinha celebrates after scoring his side's third goal during a Spanish La Liga soccer match between Mallorca and Barcelona at the Son Moix stadium in Palma de Mallorca, Spain, Tuesday, Dec. 3, 2024. (AP Photo/Jose Breton)

Barcelona's Pau Victor, right, celebrates with Raphinha after scoring his side's fifth goal during a Spanish La Liga soccer match between Mallorca and Barcelona at the Son Moix stadium in Palma de Mallorca, Spain, Tuesday, Dec. 3, 2024. (AP Photo/Jose Breton)

The commencement of the holiday season often means the lengthening of to-do lists.

There are lights to hang, cards to mail, cookies to bake and, of course, gifts to buy. Gift exchanges, whether they’re among friends, family or co-workers, can be a fun way to get in the holiday spirit. But can also be another stressor during a busy time of year.

Secret Santa exchanges — where participants are assigned a gift recipient and tasked with finding them a perfect present within a price limit — sometimes mean that those in friend groups are paired with “frenemies,” someone inevitably draws themselves, or colleagues who are virtually strangers are matched up.

Those possible pitfalls inspired Peter Imburg to create Elfster, a free online Secret Santa organizer, after he saw the time and effort it took to coordinate the logistics of a gift exchange with his family over 20 years ago.

More top-down organization, he says, helps things run more smoothly.

Elfster, for instance, creates pairings, asks for wish lists, offers gift suggestions at different price points and sends reminders, among other features meant to make the organizational hurdles of a gift exchange less daunting.

“The organizer is like the hero. They make it all happen," Imburg said, adding that his site aims "to make it a lot easier for the organizer to do that with a minimal amount of effort.”

Cameron Rogers, a New Jersey-based social media content creator and podcast host on wellness and motherhood, understands the stress that gift exchanges can bring up.

“Having to give generic gifts to people I’m not necessarily close with is extremely difficult,” Rogers said. “I can pick a good gift for my husband or my kids or my mom, but for people who I don’t know the ins and outs of their lives, I think it’s hard to pick something that you know they’re actually going to enjoy.”

She recently shared a guide to Secret Santa gifts under $50 on her social media channels, emphasizing how challenging it can be to find something within a set price range that will be well-received.

Gifts with a specific purpose — kitchen gadgets, home items or winter gear — and gifts that have a personalized aspect like a monogram are good go-to options for anyone feeling lost after receiving their Secret Santa assignment, she said.

Imburg said the “gift gurus” at Elfster also have suggestions, especially for recipients who aren’t offering any clues as to what they’d like. In a similar vein as Rogers, the Elfster team offered ideas for some practical gifts, like water bottles, blankets and massage guns. Other no-nonsense home and kitchen items, like food storage containers, charging stations and more are featured on the site’s “Top Trending Gift Ideas for 2024” list.

Gift cards, although they are not particularly glamorous, are an essentially foolproof option, Rogers said, and they won’t leave your recipient wondering where they’ll find room on their shelf for another mug or book.

“I don’t want to give someone something solely to check a box,” Rogers said. “I want them to enjoy it, instead of being like, ‘What do I do with this now?’”

Some gift-givers find that Secret Santa (and its many counterparts like White Elephant and Yankee Swap) actually cuts down on stress and spending, as it's often done in place of giving individual presents to each member of a group.

Nicole Troiano of Cranston, Rhode Island, finds them to be a fun way to handle holidays with large groups — even if co-workers may need to ask around to get specifics on their assigned person.

“It’s fun to do it that way and think about something that would be good for that person,” she said. “And then, when they open it, they’re like, ‘Oh my God!’”

By the weekend after Thanksgiving, Troiano had already purchased and wrapped her gift for the exchange she’s taking part in this year. After her swap, a lucky participant will be the new owner of a cutting board, two bottles of wine wearing bottle-size ugly sweaters, and gourmet chocolates.

FILE - Presents appear at the War Childhood Museum in Sarajevo, Bosnia on Dec. 17, 2022. (AP Photo/Armin Durgut, File)

FILE - A shopper carries a Christmas-themed bag in London on Dec. 2, 2020. (AP Photo/Alberto Pezzali, File)

(AP Illustration/Peter Hamlin)