Andres Iniesta returned from injury to fire an important goal as Barcelona left it late to beat Mallorca in the Primera Liga.
Iniesta was injured in Barcelona's 1-1 draw at home to FC Basle in the Champions League back in early November and had not played since.
But he stepped off the substitutes' bench to poke home the crucial second goal just as it seemed Mallorca might hold on for an unlikely point at the Nou Camp.
Aritz Aduriz gave the visitors a surprise lead after 15 minutes following some sloppy Barcelona defending, but Thierry Henry brought the Catalans level with a finely-taken equalizer on the half-hour mark.
The league leaders completely dominated the second half but were unable to find a way through until Iniesta's crucial strike 15 minutes from time.
Yaya Toure added an impressive third in the dying seconds after Mallorca had been reduced to 10 men following Josemi's dismissal.
Pep Guardiola's side finished 2008 with impressive victories over title rivals Sevilla, Valencia, Real Madrid and Villarreal, but they struggled to find their passing rhythm early on in this game against a defensive-minded Mallorca.
Perhaps with Tuesday night's Copa del Rey quarter-final match with Atletico Madrid in mind, Guardiola left winger Lionel Messi out of the squad altogether for this match.
And it seemed a dubious decision as the home side looked short of ideas as the match got under way.
They should have taken the lead after 13 minutes when Samuel Eto'o latched onto Toure's pass from deep but volleyed his effort wide of the target with only German Lux to beat.
That chance sparked the home fans into life, but they were silenced two minutes later when Mallorca took a shock lead.
Aduriz stole the ball from Toure and sprinted away from a sleepy Barcelona defense before chipping an exquisite shot over an exposed Victor Valdes to give Mallorca an unlikely advantage.
Barca took a while to react, but almost equalised through Eidur Gudjohnsen after 27 minutes.
Xavi picked out the former Chelsea man from a well-worked corner and the Iceland forward lashed a ferocious right-footed drive towards goal, only to see his effort rebound off the crossbar and over.
Two minutes later, Barca exchanged passes at will in the Mallorca penalty area but nobody seemed to want to shoot and Lux eventually saved at the feet of Toure.
The Catalan pressure was more sustained now, though, and it was no surprise when the home side leveled after 31 minutes.
Carles Puyol flicked on Xavi's corner to Henry, who controlled the ball neatly at the back post and drilled a low shot past Lux from a difficult angle to bring Barca level.
Puyol then saw a penalty appeal waved away and Lux produced another fine save to deny Eto'o as the first half drew to a close.
Barcelona began the second half with more urgency.
Eto'o saw a shot blocked and Nunes almost scored an own goal under pressure from Xavi.
But Mallorca - one point above the relegation zone at the start of play - were standing firm.
With Messi in the stands, Guardiola looked closer to home for inspiration and he found it in the form of Iniesta.
The Spain midfielder received a huge cheer when he came on as a substitute for Alexander Hleb and he took just eight minutes to make an impact.
Xavi's deflected shot fell kindly to Gudjohnsen in the area and he slid the ball coolly across goal for the unmarked Iniesta, who poked home from close range.
Gudjohnsen had looked offside, but the goal stood and the referee waved away Mallorca's protests.
Nunes was lucky not to be sent off for a cynical elbow on Daniel Alves late on, but Mallorca did go down to 10 men in the closing stages when Josemi saw red for a second bookable offense.
Gaps appeared at the back and Toure waltzed through the Mallorca defense to fire an impressive solo effort past Lux in added time to wrap up a deserved Barca victory.
