Barcelona beat 10-man Real Betis 4-0 on Saturday to edge closer to winning La Liga for the first time since 2019.
Barcelona won to regain their 11-point lead after Real Madrid defeated Almeria 4-2 earlier.
At Camp Nou, Andreas Christensen, Robert Lewandowski, Raphinha, and Guido Rodriguez scored for Barca.
Edgar Gonzalez’s early departure made it easier for Xavi Hernandez’s team to maintain their advantage with six games left.
Xavi introduced 15-year-old attacker Lamine Yamal, the club’s youngest La Liga debutant, with his team easily winning. Barcelona fans gave Betis’ 41-year-old veteran Joaquin Sanchez a standing ovation for his farewell outing at Camp Nou before retiring.
After losing 2-1 to Rayo Vallecano midweek, Barcelona rallied back.
“We generated a reaction,” remarked Xavi. We improved a lot, and the squad responded well.
“We went 1-0 up and after the red card, it was in our favour.”
Christensen returned from injury to start for Xavi and made an immediate impact.
Raphinha’s powerful cross nearly missed Ronald Araujo, but Christensen headed home.
Edgar’s dismissal after 30 minutes hurt Betis.
Saturday’s La Liga match saw Robert Lewandowski celebrate Barcelona’s second goal against Real Betis. After Jules Kounde crossed low, Lewandowski scored his 19th league goal of the season.
After Karim Benzema scored a hat-trick, La Liga’s top scorer reacted. Three minutes later, Raphinha scored from Sergio Busquets’ chipped ball.
Camp Nou rejoiced when Xavi substituted Ousmane Dembele with 15 minutes left. Rodriguez scored Barcelona’s fourth in the 82nd minute by deflecting Ansu Fati’s cross.
In the final stages, 15-year-old Yamal made his debut in front of around 90,000 home fans, and his shot was saved by Rui Silva.
“We were talking about this on the bench, when I was 15 I think I was playing for my neighborhood team,” Raphinha said.
“And seeing him come on in this stadium, with all these people, is incredible.”
Chic Madrid Karim Benzema celebrates after scoring Real Madrid’s first La Liga goal against UD Almeria at the Santiago Bernabeu stadium in Madrid on April 29, 2023.
His triple gave Benzema 17 La Liga goals, two behind Lewandowski.
Lazaro and Lucas Robertone scored for the visitors, 15th, but Benzema scored a hat-trick and Rodrygo scored early in the second for Madrid.
Almeria coach Rubi made numerous changes to his normal squad, evidently skeptical his club could grab points from the Santiago Bernabeu — the visit of Elche on Tuesday should be more valuable in their survival effort.
Madrid attacked freely in a low-tension encounter despite their slim championship aspirations.
“In attack the team is very dangerous, with the quality of Karim, Vini, Rodrygo, with the ball we play very well,” coach Carlo Ancelotti told reporters.
“There are games where the offensive level looks very good, like today.”
Vinicius Junior assisted Benzema’s tap-in to open the scoring.
Rodrygo backheeled to avoid Samuel Costa to assist Benzema’s second goal.
“I think it was a pass to myself, I didn’t have anywhere to go, it was a nice pass to myself with my heel,” Rodrygo told DAZN.
Benzema completed his hat-trick after 42 minutes after Largie Ramazani fouled Lucas Vazquez. Benzema moved two goals ahead of former Madrid forward Hugo Sanchez to become La Liga’s fourth-highest scorer with 236 goals.
Ancelotti claimed Vinicius will participate in the Copa del Rey final next weekend despite suffering a knock in the final stages.
Elche beat Rayo Vallecano 4-0 to avoid relegation.