Barcelona defeated Real Sociedad 2-0 at home on Monday to take back second place in La Liga thanks to goals from Lamine Yamal in the first half and a late Raphinha penalty.
With a 2-2 draw against Alaves on Friday, Xavi Hernandez’s team outscored Girona to go to 76 points, one point ahead of their rivals from Catalonia.
Real Madrid has three games remaining and already has the league championship, with 90 points.
“A lot of work still has to be done. There will be a fight until the very end. Girona are quite powerful,” Inigo Martinez, a defender for Barcelona, said to Movistar.
“We now own it. The team is excellent, in my opinion. Three important ideas. During the first part, we made a few blunders. I believe we might have concluded it sooner in the second half.”
In the 40th minute, Yamal gave Barcelona the lead with his fifth La Liga goal of the year, finishing coolly following a fast breakaway and a feed from Ilkay Gundogan.
The 16-year-old Yamal said of the next games, “It was an important game to regain second place and we have to try to make it a nine-point week.”
Real performed well in the first half, but we were able to do better after that. The whole squad was feeling positive.”
After a VAR review for handball, Raphinha’s penalty in stoppage time clinched the win for the home team. With 54 points, the Basque team is now in seventh position, one point behind Real Betis for the last Europa League slot.
“Real constantly puts us through hardship. They never put you in danger, and they are always well structured and combative,” Xavi told reporters. “This is a significant win for us. Overall, we had a solid game.”
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Barcelona defeats Real Sociedad to take back second place.
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