Barca increases gap with Real to 10 points

The Catalan team just defeated Las Palmas 2-1 in round 25 of Liga, thereby putting great pressure on the chasing teams behind them on the overall table.

Luis Suarez continues to play an important role in Barca's victory. Photo: Reuters

Goals: Willian Jose 10' - Suarez 6', Neymar 39'

Playing away at the third-bottom team, Barca unexpectedly struggled but eventually won. Luis Suarez was the hero once again, scoring the opening goal and setting up Barca's second. Neymar scored the decisive goal with a decisive rebound. Playing bravely, Las Palmas not only avoided a heavy defeat but also scored a consolation goal. Striker Willian Jose even equalized for the home team just four minutes after the first goal.

With a narrow win at Las Palmas, Barca took an important step forward in the Liga arena. The leading team is now nine points ahead of Atletico Madrid, while Real Madrid is 10 points ahead. The two capital teams can reduce the gap again if they win the late matches of round 25, but they will have to overcome pressure and tougher opponents: Villarreal and Malaga.

For most Barca fans, Las Palmas may still hold a place in their memories. In the first leg at the Nou Camp last September, they were the team that caused the injury that forced Messi out for a long time. At that time, Barca could only win 2-1 thanks to a brace from Suarez.

Meeting again after nearly five months, Las Palmas still maintained their confidence and attacking spirit. The home team even had 46% of the ball possession, the best result among Barca's recent opponents. With more luck, Las Palmas could have opened the scoring with Jonathan Viera's free kick and Willian Jose's deflected shot.

Without overpowering their opponents, Barca won mainly thanks to their class in handling situations. This was clearly shown in the opening goal: Iniesta passed the ball to Jordi Alba, then Suarez easily finished from a cross from the left wing.

As quick and accurate as he was in his opening assist, Alba was unlucky in the next move just four minutes later. This time the Barca left-back made a mistake when he joined the offside trap, which led directly to the goal. With space in the box, Willian Jose easily beat goalkeeper Bravo.

Bravo let the ball slip through his feet after Jose's shot.

In preparation for the first leg of the Champions League round of 16 against Arsenal next week, coach Luis Enrique has completely left Gerard Pique and Sergio Busquets out. The absence of these two great players may have caused Barca to play unstable in midfield and defense. However, with the class of the world's top players, the defending champions still quickly got the decisive goal. In the 39th minute, after two missed opportunities by Iniesta and Suarez, Barca took a 2-1 lead thanks to Neymar's close-range rebound. This goal was initiated by Suarez's dribble on the right wing, then Messi's shot bounced off goalkeeper Javi Varas's hand, causing the ball to fall close to Neymar.

Like the first leg, Las Palmas did not give up easily to Barca. The second half was even more exciting than the first, despite the goalless draw. Even with Ivan Rakitic coming on for Arda Turan, coach Enrique still could not help Barca stabilize the midfield.

The unfavorable situation for the defending champions could be shown by the fact that there was only one dangerous situation in the second half. In this situation, goalkeeper Varas once again excellently denied Suarez. In the remaining time, Las Palmas pushed Barca back to defend, even having many opportunities to equalize but failing to take advantage. The most dangerous situation created by the home team was the situation where Viera shot low, forcing goalkeeper Bravo to push the ball away, then Willian Jose rushed in to kick the rebound into the outside of the net.

Barca could have been held to a draw if it weren't for Neymar's decisive goal.

Barca's second substitution in the 70th minute further highlighted their unexpected squad difficulties. With no defensive midfielders on the bench, coach Enrique was forced to bring on centre-back Thomas Vermaelen to replace Sergi Roberto, while pushing Mascherano up to support the midfield. Ultimately, Barca had to rely on luck to hold on to their slim victory. Las Palmas substitute Sergio Araujo had two good chances in the closing stages of the match but failed to capitalise on either: the first time he shot wide of the target, and the second time he failed to catch a cross from teammate Roque.

Losing at home to Barca, Las Palmas continued their downward spiral with just one win in their last nine outings. The team is therefore stuck in 18th place with 21 points, two points behind Gijon in the top flight, having played a game more.

According to VNE