BARCELONA, Spain (AP) 鈥� Barcelona closed in on a second consecutive La Liga title after a rare win at Getafe on Saturday, while Atletico Madrid got a much-needed boost before facing Arsenal in the Champions League semifinals.
Ferm铆n L贸pez dedicated his 45th-minute opener to the injured Lamine Yamal, Barcelona鈥檚 leading scorer and assist maker who will with a muscle injury but hopes to be fit for the with Spain.
After scoring, Ferm铆n crossed his arms and held up his fingers to make the to celebrate his goals in reference to the final three numbers of the post code for his hometown just north of Barcelona.
Marcus Rashford went on as a substitute and sealed the 2-0 victory in the 74th as Barcelona earned its first win at Getafe in six seasons.
Barcelona increased the gap over second-placed Real Madrid to a commanding 11 points with just five rounds to go, including a clasico between them at Camp Nou on May 10.
鈥淲e鈥檒l celebrate at the end of the season if we can. Now it鈥檚 time to focus on the next game,” Barcelona coach Hansi Flick said, looking ahead to next weekend’s game at Osasuna. 鈥淲e wanted a good performance and play in our way against Getafe. We did really well at a tricky stadium.鈥�
Getafe鈥檚 physical and no-frills defense stymied Barcelona for half a decade in their meetings at Coliseum Stadium. Barcelona had scored only once in its previous five trips to southern Madrid, a run of four straight draws and a loss in 2020. Barcelona鈥檚 previous win here was in 2019.
And Saturday鈥檚 game started as yet another slog for Barcelona until Pau Cubars铆 won a tackle in midfield and Pedri Gonz谩lez seized the chance to catch Getafe鈥檚 defense finally out of position. The Spain midfielder fed a superb pass forward to beat the hosts鈥� offside trap, and Ferm铆n did the rest by firing past David Soria.
Then, with Getafe pushing forward in hopes of a late equalizer, Rashford raced onto a long ball by Robert Lewandowski and dribbled more than half the pitch before he sized up Soria and fired home.
Barcelona announced on Thursday that Yamal would miss the rest of the season after he picked up a the day before from converting a penalty in a 1-0 win over Celta Vigo.
鈥淚 want to send him a big hug from here,鈥� Ferm铆n said about Yamal after the game. 鈥淗e is very important for us. It is too bad he can鈥檛 play but now he can recover well and play in the World Cup.鈥�
Little-used forward Roony Bardghji started in Yamal鈥檚 spot on the right side of Barcelona鈥檚 attack. The 20-year-old Swede fired wide on Barcelona鈥檚 only scoring opportunity before Ferm铆n broke through.
Getafe, which has overachieved this campaign again under coach Jos茅 Bordal谩s, remained in sixth place and in the fight for a Europa League berth.
Madrid’s already scant hopes of catching Barcelona took another blow on Friday when Real Betis scored in stoppage time to . Madrid is eyeing back-to-back seasons without a major title since the .
Atletico gets win before Arsenal
Surprisingly for a team that reached the Copa del Rey final, is in the top four of La Liga and the final four of Europe鈥檚 top competition, Atletico was on a horrible run of results in recent weeks.
Diego Simeone鈥檚 side had lost seven of its previous eight games across all competitions, including a defeat on penalties to Real Sociedad in the Copa del Rey final last weekend.
But goals by Antoine Griezmann in the 49th and a brace by Alexander Sorloth at Metropolitano Stadium ensured a 3-2 comeback win against Athletic Bilbao.
Athletic got an opener from Aitor Paredes, while Gorka Guruzeta scored in stoppage time.
Atletico, which hosts Arsenal on Wednesday, remained in fourth place with a 10-point gap over Betis in fifth.
Jan Oblak made a second straight start for Atletico after the goalkeeper missed several games with a muscle injury, but Atletico lost midfielder Pablo Barrios after he went down with what looked like a leg muscle injury.
鈥淚t was important to win today for our confidence ahead of Wednesday,鈥� said Griezmann, who will leave Atletico to join Orlando City in the MLS next season.
Alaves double
Alaves forward Toni Mart铆nez scored twice in less than 10 minutes to rally his team for a 2-1 come-from-behind win over Mallorca, while Valencia beat Girona 2-1.
Besides the top five teams, the rest of the table was incredibly compact with just 10 points separating Getafe in sixth from 18th-placed Sevilla in the relegation zone.
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