BARCELONA: Red-hot Robert Lewandowski and Pablo Torre struck twice each as Barcelona hammered Sevilla 5-1 on Sunday to stay three points clear of Real Madrid at the top of La Liga ahead of next weekend’s Clasico.

Earlier Alexander Sorloth’s double helped Atletico Madrid, third, come from behind to beat neighbours Leganes 3-1.

Real beat Celta Vigo on Saturday to pull level with Hansi Flick’s side but Barca swiftly restored their advantage with a stylish and dominant display of attacking football.

Barca were dominant throughout the encounter at the Lluis Companys Olympic Stadium and effectively killed off the game with three goals in 15 first-half minutes starting with a Lewandowski penalty after Raphinha was fouled from behind in the 24th minute.

Pedri fired a bullet strike from the edge of the box into the top corner to double their lead four minutes later and Lewandowski slotted home a first-time effort from close range to net the third for the Catalan side in the 39th minute and reach 12 league goals in 10 games.

In the second half, Torre climbed off the bench to score the fourth with a shot from inside the box in the 82nd minute and, right after Stanis Idumbo netted a consolation for Sevilla in the 87th, he wrapped up the scoring with a free kick into the far corner.

Barcelona’s victory over Sevilla was their ninth in 10 La Liga games this season, as they prepare for a difficult week when they will host Bayern Munich in the Champions League on Wednesday before travelling to face rivals Real in La Liga on Saturday.

“Winning like this is very important for the games to come,” Pedri told Movistar Plus. “Today we had to leave with more than just the three points, we needed that good feeling we got. The coach told us that there was going to be spaces at the edge of the box and we took advantage of that.”

Diego Simeone’s Atletico struggled against the minnows from the south of Madrid but after Yvan Neyou blasted the visitors ahead Sorloth levelled with a fine finish and Antoine Griezmann slid home the second.

Norwegian target man Sorloth wrapped up the victory late in stoppage time with a poacher’s finish.

“In the second half we improved a bit, above all in speeding up the game,” Simeone told Movistar.

Atletico, who will face Lille in the Champions League on Wednesday, climbed to third in the standings on 20 points, four behind Real.

Published in Dawn, October 22nd, 2024