Madrid, October 24 (BNA): Barcelona does not waste time in eliminating its rivals in the Spanish League.
After scoring three goals in seven minutes in the win over Villarreal on Thursday, Barcelona netted three times in a 10-minute period on Sunday to beat Athletic Bilbao 4-0 and stay close to leaders Real Madrid at the top of the league. Ranking, The Associated Press reports.
The league victory comes three days before the Catalan club is looking for something close to a miracle to avoid elimination in the Champions League. Barcelona hosts Bayern Munich but needs Inter Milan not to beat last-placed Viktoria Plzen at home in the other group match.
Ousmane Dembele, Sergi Roberto and Robert Lewandowski scored a goal at the beginning of the first half at the Camp Nou to put Barcelona on the right track to achieve its second win in a row after losing in the “El Clasico” against Madrid.
“We came out strong and got everything right in those 10 minutes,” Barcelona midfielder Sergio Busquets said. “This allowed us to stay in control during the rest of the match.”
Dembele headed in the 12th minute, and Roberto increased his lead from close range in the 18th minute, and Lewandowski scored his fifth goal in four matches from inside the area in the 22nd minute. Ferran Torres won in the 73rd minute.
Barcelona are three points behind Real Madrid, who beat Seville 3-1 at home on Saturday. Barcelona are five points ahead of third-placed Atletico Madrid, who beat Real Betis 2-1 on the road on Sunday.
Barcelona beat Villarreal 3-0 on Thursday and Lewandowski scored two goals.
“We recovered well after losing Madrid,” Busquets said. “We played well against Villarreal and today. We will continue to fight at the top.”
Athletic, who have not won in four consecutive games under former Barcelona coach Ernesto Valverde, remained in sixth place.
Barcelona saw the replacement of both Jaffe Baez and Roberto due to injuries.
Griezmann flourishes
Antoine Griezmann scored two goals, straight from a corner kick, to give Atlético a win over Betis.
Griezmann opened the scoring in the 54th minute from a left-footed corner kick that passed through the net and entered after rebounding from one of the defenders on the goal line.
“I told the referee that I missed the Olimpico goal,” Griezmann said. “I tried to send it firmly, I played ball, and I got lucky too.”
The France striker strengthened the lead from within the region in the 71st minute with his third goal in his last three matches with Atlético.
Betis, who had won only one of their last five league matches, scored his only goal with a free kick by Nabil Fekir in the 84th minute. The hosts almost equalized in stoppage time with Alex Moreno’s close-range header hitting the crossbar. Betis’ goal was canceled for offside at the start of the second half.
Manuel Pellegrini’s team went unbeaten at home in the league this season. He remained in fifth place.
Atletico have won four of their last five La Liga matches. He was coming off with a 1-1 draw against Rayo Vallecano at home, when he conceded a net in injury time.
off after honoring
Seventh-placed Villarreal beat Almeria 2-1 at home as midfielder Alex Paena scored one of the goals and was promptly sent off with a second yellow card for pulling the shirt over his head to show a message in honor of the club’s deceased vice-president. last week.
Baena showed the message, “Thank you, Laneza,” in reference to Jose Manuel Laneza, who was considered the architect of the Villarreal project who led the club to its recent successes.
Nicholas Jackson scored Villarreal’s goal after four minutes of injury time, and then the players gathered in the center of the field after the match to dedicate the victory to Ilanesa.
Eighth-ranked Osasuna drew 1-1 with relegation-threatened hosts Girona. Osasuna had to replace Moroccan midfielder Ezz Abdi in the first half, apparently due to a muscle injury.
Last-placed Elche remained the only team not to win the league after their 2-2 draw with Espanyol. It was Elche’s second draw in three matches, which was coming off a 3-0 loss to Madrid at home. She has seven losses from 11 games. And Espanyol, with two wins, was thirteenth.