MADRID — Barcelona is intensifying the competition for the Spanish league championship by solidifying its position alongside Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid at the top of the standings.
On Sunday, the Catalan team achieved a commanding 4-1 victory against Sevilla, narrowing the gap between themselves and their rivals.
Goals were scored by Robert Lewandowski, Fermín López, Raphinha, and Eric García, allowing Barcelona to capitalize on the previous day’s draw between Real Madrid and Atletico, which ended at 1-1.
With this latest win, Barcelona finds itself just two points behind the league leaders and one point behind Atletico, currently occupying third place.
Despite being reduced to ten players after an hour due to López’s sending off for a foul, Barcelona managed to control the game confidently.
The red card followed a video review, yet it did not deter the team’s momentum.
This match marked Barcelona’s third consecutive league victory and their ninth win out of the last eleven matches in various competitions.
In contrast, Sevilla ranks 13th and has struggled recently, winning only one out of their previous five league games.
Lewandowski opened the scoring early, netting his eighth goal in the last nine games within just seven minutes.
However, Sevilla’s Ruben Vargas equalized shortly after, just a minute later.
Barcelona regained the lead with López’s goal just after halftime in the 46th minute, and Raphinha extended that margin in the 55th minute.
García capped off the scoring with a goal late in the 89th minute, illustrating Barcelona’s dominance.
Iñigo Martínez, a defender for Barcelona, expressed the importance of this victory, saying, “We needed to win to stay in contention and put some pressure on our rivals.
The team is playing with a lot of confidence right now and we know that we can still improve.
We need to stay on this track.”
Meanwhile, defender Jules Koundé made his 124th appearance for Barcelona, tying Ludovic Giuly for the fifth-most appearances by a French player for the club, with Éric Abidal holding the record at 193.
Barcelona’s Ronald Araujo, however, had to leave the game approximately 20 minutes into the match due to an injury to his right ankle.
In other results from the weekend, Real Sociedad secured a 2-1 victory against Espanyol, thanks to an 84th-minute goal from Brais Mendez, moving them up to seventh place.
Valencia, currently in 18th, managed to defeat Leganes 2-0 at home with goals from defenders Cristhian Mosquera and Mouctar Diakhaby.
Additionally, Mauro Arambarri’s penalty kick in the 44th minute granted Getafe a 1-0 away success over Alaves, who sit in 19th place.
