Robert Lewandowski and Ferran Torres took Barcelona to the brink of the La Liga title with late goals to earn them a 2-1 win at Osasuna on Saturday.
The Catalan giants moved 14 points clear of second-placed Real Madrid and will be crowned champions if their rivals drop points at Espanyol on Sunday.Lewandowski headed home after 81 minutes to break the deadlock, with Torres slotting in a second with four minutes to go.
Osasuna pulled one back through Raul Garcia late on but Barca secured the three points to close in on a second consecutive league title and a 29th in the club’s history.
If Real Madrid do defeat Espanyol, then Barcelona’s next opportunity to clinch the title will be in the Clasico against their arch-rivals on May 10.
“We’ve put the pressure on Madrid because tomorrow, if they don’t win, then we really will be champions,” Torres told DAZN.
“This is one of the toughest grounds in the league, where we knew that three points here were worth more than three points.”Barca coach Hansi Flick said it was a “huge” victory for his team.
“We wanted to win here and it was a tough game, especially in the first half, we (did) much better in the second half,” Flick told DAZN.“I’m really happy for the team, for the club, for the fans.
”Flick had said he would try and get his team to focus on this game, rather than the Clasico next weekend, but Barca’s first half was that of a team perched on a comfortable cushion and the feeling of having little at stake.Without the injured Lamine Yamal, Barca lose a lot of their dynamism, and although they had much the ball in the first half they found it hard to break down Osasuna to create clear chances.
Roony Bardghji, on the right in place of the Spain international, drew a simple save from Osasuna stopper Sergio Herrera with a long-range effort.
Osasuna had the best opening in the first half, forged by Croatian striker Ante Budimir all on his own, showing strength to hold off two defenders before prodding against the post.
Raising the tempo Barcelona had a slightly higher tempo in the second half and Dani Olmo might have sent them ahead, but he bundled over from close range.
Flick turned to his bench, making a triple change including sending on winger Marcus Rashford to play on the right flank.The Manchester United forward, on loan at Barca, curled narrowly over and offered a welcome injection of speed.
Rashford created the opener with a perfect cross for Lewandowski, who took advantage of slack marking to find space and power a header home.
“In the first half, we controlled the game but not as well as in the second half,” said Flick.“With Rashy and with Ferran we have speed, and this is what we want, to attack their last line and we did it much better.
”Torres, another substitute, produced a clinical finish to double Barca’s lead, but they were made to sweat through eight minutes of stoppage time after Garcia headed home for the hosts when left free in the box.
The Catalans battled hard, thumping balls to safety as Osasuna turned the screw, but were eventually able to celebrate a 10th consecutive league win — and now they wait.
“We did our job today, and this is what I wanted to see from the team — (the rest) is not in our hands, we will see,” added Flick.
AFP
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