Barcelona moves nine points clear atop La Liga standings

Sunday April 12, 2026

Barcelona tightened their grip on La Liga on Saturday, opening a nine-point cushion at the summit after a 4-1 home victory over Espanyol in the Catalan derby, helped by Real Madrid’s 1-1 draw at home to Girona a day earlier.

Ferran Torres set Barcelona on their way and, in the process, ended a scoring drought that had stretched back to January 31. The forward headed in from a corner after just nine minutes as the home side sought a response to their UEFA Champions League loss to Atletico Madrid, then struck again in the 25th minute after Lamine Yamal produced a dazzling outside-of-the-foot assist.

Torres nearly claimed a hat-trick, only to see a goal ruled out for a razor-thin offside against Eric Garcia in the second half. Moments later, however, Espanyol briefly found hope when Pol Lozano fired in from the edge of the penalty area.

Frenkie de Jong returned from injury with eight minutes remaining, and Barcelona quickly put the result beyond doubt. Four minutes after De Jong came on, Yamal raced onto a Marc Casado through ball and finished past Espanyol goalkeeper Marko Dmitrovic.

Marcus Rashford completed the scoring two minutes later, volleying home after Barcelona caught Espanyol exposed on the counterattack.

Atletico Madrid, who had beaten Barcelona in midweek, made extensive changes for their trip to Sevilla and paid the price in a 2-1 defeat against a team that began the day in the bottom three.

Sevilla took the lead through Akor Adams’ penalty after Dani Martinez committed one of several fouls in an Atletico lineup packed with changes.

Atletico drew level through B-team player Javier Bonar, making his first-team debut, but Nemanja Gudelj restored Sevilla’s advantage with a powerful header from a corner in injury time. Atletico could not find an equalizer after the break.

Real Sociedad, meanwhile, used their Basque derby against Alaves as a final tune-up for next weekend’s Copa del Rey final, coming from behind twice before settling for a 3-3 draw at home.

An own goal by Duje Caleta-Car handed Alaves an early lead, but Luka Sucic quickly responded. Ibrahim Diabate put the visitors back in front in the 24th minute, only for Real Sociedad to level again through a slice of fortune when Benat Turrientes’ shot hit the post and rebounded in off Alaves goalkeeper Antonio Sivera.

Orri Oskarsson appeared to have won it with a header after Takefusa Kubo nodded the ball across the box for a simple finish in the 60th minute, but Lucas Boye rescued a point for Alaves in the seventh minute of added time.

Elche moved out of the bottom three with a 1-0 home win over Valencia, sealed by Lucas Cepeda’s goal in the 73rd minute.