Ferran Torres Brace Sends Barcelona Nine Points Clear as Espanyol Beaten 4-1
Lamine Yamal set up two goals and scored one of his own on his 100th LaLiga appearance, with Marcus Rashford adding a late strike to punish Real Madrid's slip against Girona on Friday.
Barcelona capitalised on Real Madrid's stumble by thrashing local rivals Espanyol 4-1 at Spotify Camp Nou on Saturday to open a nine-point gap at the top of LaLiga with seven games remaining.
Ferran Torres scored twice in the first half, both assisted by Lamine Yamal, who also claimed a goal of his own in the 87th minute on his 100th LaLiga appearance. Marcus Rashford added the fourth with a volley in the 89th minute. The result came three days after Barcelona's 2-0 Champions League defeat at the hands of Atlético Madrid in the quarterfinal first leg, and Hansi Flick rotated accordingly — making five changes and bringing Torres into the starting eleven.
Torres had not scored in LaLiga since January 31, a drought of over two months that had fuelled speculation about his future at the club. His reunion with the scoresheet came quickly. In the ninth minute, Yamal's corner found Torres at the back post, where he thumped a header past Marko Dmitrovic. The second arrived in the 25th minute — a precise outside-of-the-foot pass from Yamal split the Espanyol defence and Torres rolled the ball into the far corner.
The damage should have been worse. Torres appeared to complete his hat-trick just after the hour mark, but the goal was ruled out by VAR because Eric García had strayed offside in the build-up. Espanyol then made the most of the reprieve. Pol Lozano cut the deficit with a long-range finish that left Joan García with no chance.
That number, briefly, was 2-1. It did not stay that way.
Yamal sealed the win in the 87th minute, beating the onrushing Dmitrovic to a through ball and tucking home from close range. Rashford then applied the finish in the 89th, volleying back across goal into the bottom corner from a Frenkie de Jong cross. The Camp Nou had its derby result.
Espanyol are now without a win in 14 consecutive LaLiga matches, a run of five draws and nine losses. Barcelona have extended their head-to-head record against their city rivals to 30 games across the past two decades, winning 23, drawing seven. Espanyol's last victory at Camp Nou came in 2009.
Flick said afterwards that the title is not yet won despite the commanding position his team now occupies, with seven matchdays left in the season. On the numbers, however, the picture is stark. Real Madrid dropped two more points in Friday's 1-1 draw with Girona, and Barcelona have now won seven consecutive league matches. Torres, for his part, celebrated both goals with a chatting gesture and a pointed smile toward the cameras — a message, he later said, aimed at those who had written him off during his dry spell.
The second leg against Atlético Madrid follows on Tuesday in Madrid. Flick will rotate again. The league title can wait one more week.
