FC Barcelona has regained the lead in La Liga from Real Madrid. Coach Xavi’s team won 1-0 against Celta and again has 22 points, just like the Madrilenians who won 1-0 at Getafe on Saturday. Barcelona, however, have a better goal difference with 20 goals for and only one against.
Xavi started the match in Camp Nou with Frenkie de Jong on the bench. The midfielder has recovered from the thigh injury he sustained with the Dutch national team. Memphis Depay was still missing in the selection of the Catalans. Barcelona took the lead in the first half via Pedri. He took advantage of Unai Núñez’s poor elimination of a pass from Gavi and was able to tap in.
In the second half Celta put a lot of pressure on the equalizer. There were opportunities for Oscar Rodriguez and Iago Aspas, but goalkeeper Marc-André ter Stegen made a few good saves. De Jong was brought on for Pedri in the 64th minute. Celta, however, kept looking for the equalizer. A ball ended up on the crossbar in the final phase, but it turned out to be offside earlier. Ter Stegen stopped another shot by Carles Pérez in injury time and again kept a clean sheet. For example, Barcelona can travel as leader to Madrid where the Clásico will be played next Sunday.