FC Barcelona have moved even closer to the Liga title after defeating Espanyol 4-1 on Saturday, which, coupled with Real Madrid’s draw with Girona the day before, means they are now an immense nine points clear at the top of the Liga table.
The final score doesn’t reflect how tight the situation actually was. Although a Ferran Torres brace left Barça nicely set up at the break, Espanyol pulled a goal back and were threatening to nick a second before two late blaugrana goals finally sorted things out.
Ferran double
In La Liga things are looking extraordinarily sweet. In the Champions League not so much. That’s a matter that requires serious attention at the Metropolitano on Tuesday, but any fears that Barça might be taking this one lightly were forgotten as soon as the starting XI was announced.
Curiously, Ronald Araujo was the only non-Spaniard, but Hansi Flick’s rotations were fairly minimal.
And once the game began, it quickly became clear that there were no thoughts of reserving energy for Tuesday. Espanyol were under threat from the off and after just nine minutes were already trailing after Ferran Torres rose to meet a Lamine Yamal corner at the far post and headed Barça into an early lead.
On 25 minutes the same two were at it again. A splendid assist from Lamine on the day of his 100th Liga appearance, and Torres tucked the ball home with the most subtle of finishes.
Moments of doubt
The ‘shark’ hadn’t scored since netting against Elche in January. Today he had two, and Barça were cruising it against an Espanyol side that did hit the bar at one point but otherwise barely threatened.
Torres could have completed a hat-trick had the offside flag not gone up in the second half. Had that goal counted, it would have been game over. Instead, mere moments later, the visitors were suddenly back in the game.
Pol Lozano was allowed far too much space to collect a loose ball and rifle it past Joan García. 2-1.
Barça were still on top, and Marcus Rashford let an especially promising chance slip, but the Parakeets were creating some bother too. Too much bother. Flick would surely have liked to take Lamine Yamal off for some rest, but he was needed. This game was anything but settled.
Late glee
So who better than Lamine himself to settle it? It was a strange goal. Marko Dmitrovic blocked his run, only for the ball to rebound off the teenager’s body and leave him with a free run to shepherd the ball into an empty net.
Moments earlier, we’d been treated to the refreshing sight of Frenkie de Jong coming on for the first time since recovering from injury, and it wasn’t long before we were given a reminder of what we’ve been missing.
The Dutchman collected a Lamine pass and stood for what seemed like an age plotting what to do next. In the end, the coolest little chip and Rashford was able to make up for his earlier error with a fantastic finish.
Now Barça could relax. 4-1 winners. That’s now thirty consecutive league derbies without defeat. The Liga title is beckoning. But before that there’s Atlético Madrid.
“Si se puede” chanted Spotify Camp Nou after the final whistle. “We can do it.”
We certainly can!
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