Top Spanish football clubs Barcelona and Villarreal secured crucial weekend victories, intensifying the league’s title race and strengthening their positions for European qualification.
Barcelona marked its return to its home stadium, Camp Nou, with a dominant 4-0 win over Athletic Bilbao on Saturday. This victory brings Barcelona level on points with rival Real Madrid at the top of the league standings.
Villarreal also secured a 2-1 home victory against Mallorca. This result solidifies their third-place standing in La Liga, maintaining a four-point lead over fourth-placed Atlético Madrid.
Polish international Robert Lewandowski opened the scoring for Barcelona just four minutes into the match. He is currently the league’s second-best scorer with eight goals.
Ferran Torres then extended Barcelona’s lead shortly before halftime. Fermín Lopez added a third goal early in the second half.
Athletic Bilbao was reduced to 10 players when Oihan Sancet received a direct red card for a foul in the 54th minute. Torres scored his second goal in injury time, assisted by Lamine Yamal.
For Villarreal, Gerard Moreno scored early in the sixth minute. Samu Costa equalized for Mallorca two minutes later. The winning goal came from Canadian Tanitoluwa Oluwaseyi in the 83rd minute.
Real Madrid is scheduled to play away against Elche, currently 11th in the league, on Sunday.