Barcelona moved eight points clear of LaLiga by defeating Sevilla 3-0 at Camp Nou to take advantage of Real Madrid’s most recent blunder.
Barcelona took full advantage of Madrid’s unexpected 1-0 setback at Real Mallorca earlier on Sunday by winning their 10th straight match overall.
Jordi Alba rightfully opened the goal for Xavi’s team after laboring for the better part of an hour, and they never looked back.
Twelve minutes later, Gavi increased the advantage for the hosts with Raphinha’s help. Raphinha later added a third goal of his own to move Barca one step closer to winning its first league championship in four years.
Sergio Busquets’ ankle injury forced Barca to make a substitution within the first eight minutes, and the team struggled to get going in the first half.
Robert Lewandowski was stopped with a good save with his leg by Yassine Bounou, who then made an even greater save by tipping the striker’s long shot around the post.
At halftime, Sevilla substituted Bryan Gil and Erik Lamela, but Barca continued to control the game as Raphinha became the latest player to put Bounou to the test, this time with a header.
Just before the hour mark, Franck Kessie, who had been substituted for Busquets, skillfully flipped the ball into Alba’s path so that he could score by shooting across Bounou.
A simple finish for Gavi in the 70th minute after being picked out by Raphinha gave Barca breathing space and the Brazil winger contributed to the scoring before full-time.
Alba played the ball into the middle and Raphinha was there to poke it past Bounou and cap a fine individual and team display.
Gavi the six-shooter pic.twitter.com/aHNLxQTRd0
— FC Barcelona (@FCBarcelona) February 5, 2023