Barcelona and Real Madrid both won at the weekend in La Liga to keep the title race mildly alive as Barcelona continues to lead with eleven points with eight games to spare. After Carlo Ancelotti’s side defeated Celta Vigo 2-0 thanks to goals from Marco Asensio and Eder Militao in each half, Barcelona responded with a win of their own on Sunday against Atletico Madrid.

Barcelona were boosted with the return of Pedri and De Jong, but it was Ferran Torres who scored the game’s only goal just a minute before half-time. The league leaders could have added more, but Poland striker Robert Lewandowski was again not in the right form to get on the scoresheet; irrespective of the performance of the former Bayern Munich striker, Xavi was satisfied with the result, which he tagged very important.

“It was a very important win, a key win for us to be able to achieve the main objective, which is to win the league. We beat what are a great team, in my opinion. When you see them live, the players they have, they are great. They are in a great moment, and they haven’t lost since we beat them. It was a crucial, crucial win for us.” Xavi said.

Barcelona are eight games away from the title with their next fixture an away trip to Rayo Vallecano before a home tie to Real Betis.

Other results from the weekend saw Valencia secure a very important 2-0 victory away from home at Elche; the two relegation strugglers faced each other in Sunday’s first game, with the away side getting all three points.

Meanwhile, Sevilla also continued their resurgence with a late 2-1 win over Villarreal. Youssef En Nesyri scored deep in the stoppage time to secure the 2-1 win after Pau Torres canceled out Rafa Mir’s first-half strike.

Written by: Daniel Ademiju Idowu