Barcelona scrape past Alaves to close gap in La Liga title race – Football España

Barcelona were aiming to take advantage of Real Madrid’s loss at Espanyol to go to within four points of their rivals, and they have done so, albeit without much conviction. They did not play overly well against Alaves, but they did enough to secure a 1-0 victory at the Estadi Olimpic Lluis Companys.

It was a very disappointing first half performance from the hosts, who had more yellow cards (two) than shots on target (one). They lost Gavi early on after he was involved in a very nasty clash of heads with Alaves’ Tomas Conechny, who also could not continue.

Hansi Flick attempted to change things at the interval with Eric Garcia and Frenkie de Jong being brought on for Ronald Araujo and Marc Casado, and these made a difference for Barcelona. They were noticeably more stable and more threatening in attack, and this ultimately led to the deadlock being broken on the hour mark.

It was Robert Lewandowski that has scored the opener. Pedri’s floated cross was volleyed towards goal by Lamine Yamal, and the ball deflected into the path of the Polish striker, who instinctively turned the ball into the back of the net from close range.

Alaves goalkeeper Jesus Owono was forced into action soon after to deny Barcelona a second, as Lamine Yamal’s curling effort was spectacularly tipped wide. Both clubs pushed hard to score the second goal of the match, but in the end, Lewandowski’s finish proved to be the difference in Catalonia.

The result means that Barcelona have closed to within four points of Real Madrid, and three of Atletico Madrid – and both those clubs face each other in the Madrid derby next weekend. Flick’s side will hope that they can take another step forward in the title race when they take on Sevilla at the Ramon Sanchez-Pizjuan. The defeat for Alaves means that they stay in the relegation zone.