As Barcelona overtakes Girona to recover second place in La Liga, Lamine Yamal excels. Barcelona defeated Real Sociedad 2-0 at home on Monday to take back second place in La Liga thanks to goals from Lamine Yamal in the first half and a late Raphinha penalty.
With a 2-2 draw at Alaves on Friday, Xavi Hernandez’s team outscored Girona to advance to 76 points, one point ahead of their rivals from Catalonia. Real Madrid has three games remaining and already holds the league title, with 90 points.
“A lot of work still has to be done. There will be a fight to the very end. Girona are quite powerful,” Inigo Martinez, a defender for Barcelona, said to Movistar.
“We now possess it. The team is excellent, in my opinion. Three important ideas. During the first part, we made a few blunders. I believe we could have concluded it sooner in the second half.”
In the 40th minute, Yamal gave Barcelona the lead with his fifth La Liga goal of the year, finishing coolly after a fast breakaway and a feed from Ilkay Gundogan.
The 16-year-old Yamal stated of the next games, “It was an important game to regain second place and we have to try to make it a nine-point week.”
Real performed admirably in the first half, but we were able to do better after that. The entire squad was feeling positive.”
After a VAR review for handball, Raphinha’s penalty in stoppage time sealed the win for the home team. With 54 points, the Basque team is now in seventh position, one point behind Real Betis for the final Europa League slot.
“Real constantly puts us through hardship. They never put you in danger, and they are always highly organized and combative,” Xavi told reporters. “This is a significant win for us. Overall, we had a solid game.”
