Barcelona edge closer to La Liga title : match report

Barcelona edge closer to La Liga title : match report

Suárez brace, Messi free kick lead Barcelona to 5-0 win vs. Espanyol. Barcelona are just one victory away from their 24th La Liga title. The 5-0 win over Espanyol on Sunday afternoon at the Camp Nou made it possible.

Barcelona edge closer to La Liga title : match report

Outside of a few nervy moments in the first half, the victory was inevitable for Barcelona. They roared to life in the second half to rule their crosstown rivals.

Their nearest rivals in the table, Atlético Madrid and Real Madrid, were playing at the same time. Barcelona were keen to avoid a repeat of the infamous “Tamudazo” of 2007. It was when Raúl Tamudo’s stoppage time goal against Barcelona at the Camp Nou earned Espanyol a 2-2 draw in the penultimate week of the 2006-07 La Liga season. It had ultimately lost Barcelona the league title.

Lionel Messi opened the scoring with a stunning free kick goal in the eighth minute. Luis Suárez added a brace in the second half with his goals in the 52nd and 61st minutes. Rafinha and Neymar netted in the 74th and 83rd minutes, respectively.

By virtue of Levante’s splendid 2-1 win over Atlético, only Real Madrid remain as a challenger to Barcelona’s crown now. Los Blancos were 3-2 winners over Valencia and are just one point behind Barcelona. They sit on 88 points heading into next week’s finale at Granada.

The injury sustained by Claudio Bravo at the end of Barcelona’s victory at Betis last week paved the way for Marc-André ter Stegen to begin in goal. Otherwise, it was all the usual cast of players in Luis Enrique’s starting XI as Barcelona edge closer to La liga title.

Espanyol, as they so often is the case in this derby match, were a unyielding foe and efforts from Felipe Caicedo and Pape Diop, that included a shot that forced a deep headed clearance from Gerard Piqué, really tested the nerves of the Camp Nou.