Barcelona confirm status as La Liga champions with Catalan derby win

Barcelona have completed a domestic treble after they wrapped up the La Liga title with a 2-0 victory over 10-man Espanyol in their Catalan derby clash at the RCDE Stadium.

Difficult first half for Barcelona as Espanyol threatened

Real Madrid’s comeback victory against Mallorca 24 hours prior meant that Barcelona needed to win in order to be confirmed as La Liga champions in their rivals’ backyard. But that result seemed relatively unlikely in the first half as Espanyol were the better team – and they should have led, but for Wojciech Szczesny stopping a tame effort from Javi Puado.

Hansi Flick was clearly unimpressed by the first half performance, as he made a change at half time. Alejandro Balde was brought on for Gerard Martin, and from that moment, there was a lot more urgency about Barcelona’s play. And ultimately, they were soon rewarded with the only goal of the contest.

Lamine Yamal makes the difference with two goal involvements

As he so often does, Lamine Yamal cut inside on to his left foot after receiving the ball from Dani Olmo. And from just outside the penalty area, the 17-year-old curled an unstoppable effort into the top corner of the Espanyol goal, leaving goalkeeper Joan Garcia with absolutely no chance of making the save.

Barcelona managed proceedings from there, and it got easier to do so 10 minutes from time as Espanyol were reduced to 10 men. Lamine Yamal was involved again, as he was hit in the stomach by Leandro Cabrera – no decision was made initially, but after a VAR check, the Espanyol defender was shown red by on-field referee Cesar Soto Grado.

Espanyol pushed for an equaliser late on, but in the end, they were unable to find one. Instead, it was Barcelona that found a second courtesy of Fermin Lopez. And as a result, it meant that Barcelona secured the La Liga title with two matches remaining, which is a very impressive achievement given their off-field woes.