MADRID: Barcelona reestablished its three-point lead over Real Madrid at the top of the Spanish league after beating Catalan rival Girona 4-1 on Sunday.
Robert Lewandowski added to his league-leading tally with two second-half goals.
Lewandowski has scored nine goals in his last nine league games and has 25 goals in total in the competition, three more than Madrid’s Kylian Mbappé.
“For me the most important thing is what I can do to help the team,” Lewandowski said. “I know that if I score two goals, I’ll be helping my team. As a striker it’s important to have confidence for when the ball comes to me.”
Barcelona went in front with an own-goal by Girona defender Ladislav Krejci in the first half. Ferran Torres added the fourth goal for Barcelona in the final minutes at Montjuic stadium.
On Saturday, Madrid had moved level on points with Barcelona with a 3-2 victory over Leganes at home and third-placed Atletico Madrid dropped nine points off the lead following a 1-1 draw at Espanyol.
It was Barcelona’s sixth win in a row in all competitions, and 11th in its last 12 matches. Hansi Flick’s team is yet to lose in 20 games this year, with its last loss coming against Atletico in December.
“We are in great form at the moment and we are creating a lot of chances when we have the ball. What I take from today is our ability to react after the break,” Flick said. “The great thing about my team is that we always want to score goals and everyone likes to see that.”
Barcelona has scored four or more goals in 20 of its 45 matches in all competitions this season.
“When you score four times it means you played a great match,” Lewandowski said. “We’ve been scoring a lot, and it’s important that when we can’t score early we have been patient and not changing our game plan.”
Flick praised the “special” Poland striker.
“Lewandowski is really important,” Flick said. “I don’t like to pick out individuals but he is special inside the box.”
Arnaut Danjuma scored early in the second half for Girona, which is winless in seven consecutive matches and stayed in 13th place.
Barcelona forward Raphinha stayed on the bench to get some rest following his matches with Brazil in South American World Cup qualifying.
Barcelona visits Atletico in the second leg of the Copa del Rey semifinals on Wednesday. The first match ended 4-4.
Other results
Fifth-placed Villarreal won 2-1 at Getafe to gain ground on fourth-placed Athletic Bilbao, which couldn’t manage more than a 0-0 home draw with 14th-placed Osasuna. Villarreal trails Athletic by six points with a game in hand.
Valencia moved to 15th place by beating eighth-placed Mallorca 1-0 with Diego López scoring the winner in the 50th. Valencia has won twice in its last six league matches. It was Mallorca’s first loss after six matches.
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Lewandowski leads the way as Barcelona regains 3-point lead over Real Madrid
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Lewandowski leads the way as Barcelona regains 3-point lead over Real Madrid
- Lewandowski has scored nine goals in his last nine league games and has 25 goals in total in the competition, three more than Madrid’s Kylian Mbappé
Salford ‘way more prepared’ for Man City rematch says manager
- Karl Robinson is adamant Salford will be a better side when they return to the scene of last season’s 8-0 defeat by Manchester City
LONDON: Karl Robinson is adamant Salford will be a better side when they return to the scene of last season’s 8-0 defeat by Manchester City.
The fourth-tier club side were thrashed by Pep Guardiola’s men in an FA Cup third-round tie at the Etihad Stadium.
They will now make the same short journey in England’s northwest in the fourth round on Saturday and the Salford manager is confident of a very different game.
“Last year was really emotional,” said Robinson. “It wasn’t too long ago our owners were leaning on iron bars watching non-league football.
“To then walk out at the Etihad in front of 60,000 with their football club was incredible. That’s the journey of all journeys.
“This year we have other things to worry about. We have a different mindset. We’ve learned from last year. We’ll be way more prepared.”
Playing City in the FA Cup was an indication of Salford’s rise through the ranks of English football from non-league level, with their ascent propelled by their takeover by a group of former Manchester United stars from the celebrated ‘Class of 92’.
Salford are now in their seventh successive campaign in League Two, with the ownership changing last year as a new consortium fronted by Gary Neville and David Beckham bought out their former Old Trafford teammates.
Forging their own identity in the shadow of some of England’s leading clubs is an issue for Salford, who will revert to their traditional orange kit after the ‘Class of 92’ brought in a red and white strip.
“Salford is a proper football club and that’s our message going into this game,” said Robinson.
“Last year we wore the red kit but we’ll wear our away kit this year, just to signify it’s a new era. We do sit separate to City and United. We have our own identity.
“We’re a completely different football club now.”
For all Robinson’s renewed optimism, City thrashed League One Exeter 10-1 in the last round of the FA Cup.
But he insisted: “There’s always hope, there’s always a possibility. You don’t know 100 percent. You might know the odds are 99.9 percent against, but there’s still that chance.
“Everyone goes to bed the night before with that thought of ‘what if?’, and that’s exciting.”
The fourth-tier club side were thrashed by Pep Guardiola’s men in an FA Cup third-round tie at the Etihad Stadium.
They will now make the same short journey in England’s northwest in the fourth round on Saturday and the Salford manager is confident of a very different game.
“Last year was really emotional,” said Robinson. “It wasn’t too long ago our owners were leaning on iron bars watching non-league football.
“To then walk out at the Etihad in front of 60,000 with their football club was incredible. That’s the journey of all journeys.
“This year we have other things to worry about. We have a different mindset. We’ve learned from last year. We’ll be way more prepared.”
Playing City in the FA Cup was an indication of Salford’s rise through the ranks of English football from non-league level, with their ascent propelled by their takeover by a group of former Manchester United stars from the celebrated ‘Class of 92’.
Salford are now in their seventh successive campaign in League Two, with the ownership changing last year as a new consortium fronted by Gary Neville and David Beckham bought out their former Old Trafford teammates.
Forging their own identity in the shadow of some of England’s leading clubs is an issue for Salford, who will revert to their traditional orange kit after the ‘Class of 92’ brought in a red and white strip.
“Salford is a proper football club and that’s our message going into this game,” said Robinson.
“Last year we wore the red kit but we’ll wear our away kit this year, just to signify it’s a new era. We do sit separate to City and United. We have our own identity.
“We’re a completely different football club now.”
For all Robinson’s renewed optimism, City thrashed League One Exeter 10-1 in the last round of the FA Cup.
But he insisted: “There’s always hope, there’s always a possibility. You don’t know 100 percent. You might know the odds are 99.9 percent against, but there’s still that chance.
“Everyone goes to bed the night before with that thought of ‘what if?’, and that’s exciting.”
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