FC Barcelona puts Real Madrid on eleven points with another business victory in La Liga | Foreign football

Real Madrid can reduce the difference to eight points on Wednesday evening with a win over Elche. Carlo Ancelotti’s team won 5-3 against Al-Hilal on Saturday evening and will visit Camp Nou in La Liga on March 19. The Spanish rivals will soon also meet each other in the semi-finals of the Copa del Rey.

Barcelona won 1-0 for the sixth time this season and kept their own goal clean for the sixteenth time in 21 league matches. The winning goal was scored by Pedri after eighteen minutes. The 20-year-old midfielder scored after a nice attack through the ashes via Frenkie de Jong, Raphinha and Robert Lewandowski. The Polish striker himself had a few good chances to score his fifteenth goal in La Liga, but Villarreal goalkeeper Pepe Reina (40) prevented that with two fine saves.

Villarreal had a good chance to equalize shortly before half-time, but José Luis Morales (35) shot with the left into the side net. Marc-André ter Stegen only conceded seven goals this season and showed his qualities again in the second half with a number of important saves, resulting in another minimal victory for Barcelona. The home team struck in extra time, but that goal was disallowed for offside. Villarreal, trained by former Barcelona coach Quique Setién, remains eighth in La Liga.

Xavi’s team can now focus on the confrontation with Manchester United in the intermediate round of the Europa League, in which Ajax (against Union Berlin) and PSV (against Sevilla) will also play this week. The first leg is Thursday evening (6.45 pm) at Camp Nou, the return a week later at Old Trafford.