On Saturday, four matches of the 29th round of the Spanish "La Liga" championship were played.
At the "Camp Nou" stadium, the Barcelona derby took place. Ernesto Valverde's coached Barcelona team had problems with the visitors, but once again Lionel Messi, showing leadership qualities, led the hosts to victory.
Espanyol held on until the 71st minute, when a penalty kick was awarded just outside the penalty area. L. Messi took the shot in the "panenka" style from the penalty spot and put "Barca" in the lead. Victor Sanchez also tried to score with a header from the goal line after the goal.
In the 89th minute, the same L. Messi scored a second goal, but this time Malcom, who had made a great sprint down the left side, did all the work.
Barcelona celebrated their fifth consecutive victory in the Spanish league and are getting closer to the title.
In other matches, Madrid's Getafe suffered a painful defeat at home by losing 0-2 to the Leganes team in the race for a place in the Champions League.
Celta Vigo achieved a fantastic victory in the fight for survival. They erased a two-goal deficit and defeated Villarreal 3-2, breaking the direct competitors in the race for the 17th position in the league.
In the last match of the night, Madrid's Atletico returned to the path of victories by not leaving any hopes for the Alaves team with a 4-0 win away. Saul, Diego Costa, Alvaro Morata, and Thomas led "rojiblancos" to victory.
Atletico maintains a 10-point gap against Barcelona.
Results:
"Barcelona" 2 - 0 "Espanyol"
71' [1 - 0] L. Messi
89' [2 - 0] L. Messi
"Getafe" 0 - 2 "Leganes"
49' [0 - 1] M. Santos
83' [0 - 2] Juanfran
18' G. Carrillo ("Leganes") missed a penalty kick
"Celta" 3 - 2 "Villarreal"
11' [0 - 1] K. Ekambi
15' [0 - 2] Alfonso
50' [1 - 2] I. Aspas
71' [2 - 2] M. Gomez
86' [3 - 2] I. Aspas (penalty kick)
"Alaves" 0 - 4 "Atletico"
5' [0 - 1] Saul
11' [0 - 2] D. Costa
59' [0 - 3] A. Morata
84' [0 - 4] Thomas
Standings:
