BARCELONA: Spanish champions Barcelona cut the gap on Real Madrid at the top of La Liga to five points with a 1-0 win over 10-man Las Palmas on Saturday.

Raphinha headed home in the second half to clinch Barcelona’s victory after the visitors had goalkeeper Alvaro Valles dismissed after 24 minutes for a rash foul.

Barcelona warmed up for their Champions League quarter-final clash against Paris Saint-Germain, their next match in 11 days’ time, with a straightforward victory, albeit by a tight scoreline.

Xavi Hernandez’s side are unbeaten in 11 games since the coach said he would leave at the end of the season and their recent form has given them some faint hope of retaining their title.

“We could have scored more, we had many chances to kill the game off,” said Xavi. “It’s a summary of our season, we’re finding it hard to close out matches.”

Barcelona dominated the opening stages against Las Palmas with Robert Lewandowski and Raphinha both having goals ruled out for offside.

Polish striker Lewandowski hit the bar on another occasion as Xavi’s side strolled, although former Barca forward Sandro Ramirez threatened at the other end before taking a weak shot.

Las Palmas goalkeeper Valles was sent off after 24 minutes for rushing out of his goal and clattering into the busy Raphinha.

Lewandowski struck the bar again from Joao Cancelo’s cross and Raphinha fired narrowly wide when he might have scored as Barcelona continued to press for the opener.

With 10 men Las Palmas set up in a more defensive fashion and tried to frustrate the Catalans, although they again came close when defender Saul Coco smashed a vicious free-kick into the side-netting.

Winger Marvin Park, on loan at Las Palmas from Real Madrid, forced a smart low save by Marc-Andre ter Stegen a minute before Barcelona took the lead.

Joao Felix, on as a substitute, produced a glorious scooped pass into the area for Raphinha to head home his fifth La Liga goal of the season.

The Brazilian winger drew a VAR television screen in a sarcastic celebration, in reference to his earlier disallowed strike.

Felix should have doubled Barcelona’s lead when Jules Kounde rolled the ball across the face of goal for him but the Portuguese forward struck the crossbar when it seemed easier to score.

Earlier Saturday Sevilla beat Getafe 1-0 thanks to an early Sergio Ramos goal on his 38th birthday, while Valencia drew 0-0 with Real Mallorca and Osasuna thrashed Almeria 3-0.

Published in Dawn, April 1st, 2024