Real Madrid and Barcelona secure crucial  victories in La Liga

Barcelona maintained their three-point advantage at the top of La Liga on Sunday when they got a 1-0 victory over Getafe. The Catalonians could have gone six points ahead of Real Madrid, but the Los Blancos managed to get a 2-0 win away at Athletic club on Sunday.

Spain’s midfielder Pedri was the star of the game, and he got the winning goal in the 35th minute of the game. The goal was his fourth in 17 games this season in La Liga. The win puts Barcelona six points ahead of Real Madrid, although Real Madrid had not played their game until Sunday evening.

However, that was not the worry that Barcelona manager Xavi had after the game as Brazil forward Raphinha reacted angrily to his substitution from the game.

The Brazilian has been linked with a possible move out of Camp Nou due to his unimpressive start to life at Barcelona. However, Xavi praised his contributions to the game, especially in regard to the goal, but the Spanish manager demanded more from the forward.

“Raphinha assisted the goal. He is being important to the team. Maybe he has to minimize the [ball] losses, and it’s normal to be upset about the change. He works very hard every day to make things work for him.” Xavi said.

Barcelona’s next game is a Copa Del Rey tie against Real Sociedad before they travel to Girona in La Liga next weekend.

Real Madrid got a 2-0 victory away from home at Athletic Bilbao to keep up with Barcelona, even though the win reduced the point deficit between the two rivals to 3 points.

Karim Benzema opened the scoring in the 24th minute of the game before Toni Kroos scored a spectacular goal just before the end of the game to secure all maximum points for Real Madrid.

Daniel Ademiju Idowu