PAMPLONA: Robert Lewandowski and Ferran Torres took Barcelona to the brink of the La Liga title with late goals to earn them a 2-1 win at Osasuna on Saturday.&nbsp;The Catalan giants moved 14 points clear of second-placed Real Madrid and will be crowned champions if their rivals drop points at Espanyol on Sunday.&nbsp;Lewandowski headed home after 81 minutes to break the deadlock, with Torres slotting in a second with four minutes to go.&nbsp;Osasuna pulled one back through Raul Garcia late on, but Barca secured the three points to close in on a second consecutive league title and a 29th in the club&#39;s history.&nbsp;If Real Madrid defeats Espanyol, then Barcelona&#39;s next opportunity to clinch the title will be in the Clasico against their arch-rivals on May 10.&nbsp;Flick said he would try and get his team to focus on this game, rather than the Clasico next weekend, but Barca&#39;s first half was that of a team perched on a comfortable cushion and the feeling of having little at stake.&nbsp;Without the injured Lamine Yamal, Barca lose a lot of their dynamism, and although they had a lot of the ball in the first half, they found it hard to break down Osasuna to create clear chances.&nbsp;Roony Bardghji, on the right in place of the Spain international, drew a simple save from Osasuna stopper Sergio Herrera with a long-range effort.&nbsp;Osasuna had the best opening in the first half, forged by Croatian striker Ante Budimir all on his own, showing strength to hold off two defenders before prodding against the post.&nbsp;Barcelona had a slightly higher tempo in the second half and Dani Olmo might have sent them ahead, but he bundled over from close range.&nbsp;Flick turned to his bench, making a triple change, including sending on winger Marcus Rashford to play on the right flank.&nbsp;The Manchester United forward, on loan at Barca, curled narrowly over and offered a welcome injection of speed.&nbsp;Rashford created the opener with a perfect cross for Lewandowski, who took advantage of slack marking to find space and power a header home.&nbsp;Torres, another substitute, produced a clinical finish to double Barca&#39;s lead, but they were made to sweat through eight minutes of stoppage time after Garcia headed home for the hosts when left free in the box.&nbsp;The Catalans battled hard, thumping balls to safety as Osasuna turned the screw, but were eventually able to celebrate a 10th consecutive league win -- and now they wait.

Football

Barcelona beat Osasuna 2-1 with late goals from Lewandowski and Torres, moving 14 points clear. They can clinch the La Liga title if Real Madrid drops points, marking a 10th straight league win.

Barcelona on verge of La Liga title defense with win at Osasuna

PAMPLONA: Raul Garcia&#39;s superb 90th-minute strike consigned leaders&nbsp;<a href="https://www.pakistantv.com/article/vinicius-bags-brace-as-real-madrid-take-liga-lead-end-sociedad-run" target="_blank" style="color:#0073e6;" rel="noopener noreferrer">Real Madrid</a>&nbsp;to a 2-1 defeat at Osasuna in La Liga on Saturday, in a blow to their title hopes. Champions Barcelona trail Madrid by two points but can overtake them on Sunday if they beat Levante at Camp Nou. Alvaro Arbeloa&#39;s Madrid put on a below-par performance in Pamplona and fell behind to an Ante Budimir penalty, before Vinicius Junior pulled the visitors level. The second leg of Madrid&#39;s Champions League play-off against Jose Mourinho&#39;s Benfica on Wednesday seemed to play on their minds as they failed to kick on at El Sadar. <a href="https://www.pakistantv.com/article/uefa-opens-probe-into-discriminatory-behavior-towards-vinicius" target="_blank" style="color:#0073e6;" rel="noopener noreferrer">Vinicius</a>, who scored a sensational goal to give Madrid a slender first-leg lead but was then the victim of alleged racial abuse, thought he had earned his team a point before Garcia blasted home the winner. &quot;It was not a good game from us... we have to play a lot better,&quot; Arbeloa told reporters. &quot;Nobody likes to lose, us least of all, but we&#39;re not hurt. There&#39;s a long way to go. &quot;We had control at some points but we lacked speed in our play... on Wednesday we have another final, another game that is very important for us.&quot; Croatian target man Budimir curled narrowly wide of Real Madrid goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois&#39;s far post early on, the first of many problems he gave the visitors. The Belgian stopper made an excellent save a few minutes later, after Budimir tried to nod home Ruben Garcia&#39;s cross under pressure from Alvaro Carreras. Budimir also clipped the post with a header as Osasuna impressed, with their victory helping them rise to ninth. Madrid defender David Alaba came close when Alejandro Catena blocked his shot, shortly before the hosts took the lead. Budimir burst into the area and went down under a challenge from Courtois. Although he was initially booked for diving a VAR review showed the goalkeeper stood on his foot. The veteran forward took the resulting penalty himself and sent Courtois the wrong way to give Osasuna the lead. &quot;I knew it was a penalty and I wanted to stay cool (while it was being reviewed),&quot; said Budimir. Osasuna sat deep at times in the second half, looking to fend off 15-time European champions Madrid. Arda Guler came close with a vicious shot that flew just over. Chasing an equaliser, Arbeloa threw on creative duo Trent Alexander-Arnold and Brahim Diaz and his team began to take control. French superstar Kylian Mbappe put the ball in the back of Osasuna&#39;s net but had edged offside, although the equaliser was not long in coming. Fede Valverde charged into the box with the ball, unperturbed by Osasuna&#39;s defenders bouncing off him, before crossing for Vinicius to tuck home. It was the Brazilian&#39;s fifth goal in his last four games across all competitions, having found his best form since Arbeloa replaced Xabi Alonso at the helm in January. Wasted chance Mbappe, La Liga&#39;s top goalscorer, should have put Madrid ahead with 10 minutes to go but Javi Galan brilliantly blocked his shot. Alexander-Arnold curled a free-kick wide as the clock ticked down and it looked like Madrid were left ruing two points dropped, when the third was taken away from them too. Raul Garcia cut inside the sliding Raul Asencio brilliantly and fired across Courtois and in at the far post. The striker&#39;s celebrations were cut short by the offside flag but a VAR review showed he was onside and the goal was given. It was the first time Osasuna have beaten Madrid in La Liga for 15 years. &quot;It&#39;s an incredible feeling... I think (that fact) is crazy. The fans deserved a victory like this after so many years,&quot; Raul Garcia told DAZN. &quot;When I saw (Asencio) coming I knew he was going to go to ground and after that I stayed calm to swerve him and was able to score.&quot; Real Betis, fifth, were held 1-1 at home against Rayo Vallecano earlier Saturday, leaving them three points behind fourth-placed <a href="https://www.pakistantv.com/article/olmo-and-torres-lead-barcelona-to-30-win-over-getafe-in-spanish-league" style="color:#0073e6;" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Atletico Madrid</a>. Diego Simeone&#39;s side host Espanyol later on, aiming to make amends after last weekend&#39;s 3-0 defeat by Rayo.

Raul Garcia’s 90th-minute goal handed Real Madrid a 2-1 loss to Osasuna, ending a 15-year winless streak. Madrid struggled despite Vinicius Junior’s equalizer, leaving them with title race setbacks.

Articles tagged with "Osasuna"

Barcelona on verge of La Liga title defense with win at Osasuna

Liga leaders Real Madrid stung by late Osasuna winner