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Barcelona passed Osasuna along Osasuna on Thursday in a 2-0 win and ensured that they would have a three-point lead in the LA Liga title race prior to another crucial weekend in a tightly affected race for the first place.
The hosts scored the only goals of the game fairly early, with Ferran Torres opening the score in the 11th minute. Dani Olmo followed a penalty just 10 minutes later, so that Barcelona would be the rest of the game in Cruise Control. They surpassed Osasuna 19 to three and did not stand for a single shot on goal during the competition, and did this without Robert Lewandowski and Raphinha while they returned from international duty with Poland and Brazil respectively. Lewandowski, however, came from the bank to score the third goal of the game in the 77th minute.
This game was again planned from earlier this month, where La Liga chose to postpone the game after the sudden death of Barcelona’s team Doctor Carles Minarro Garcia, so it was played so shortly after the conclusion of the international break.
Here are the most remarkable moments in the game.
Moment of the game
Barcelona set the tone early when Torres scored only 11 minutes and ended a great team goal that reflected the ease with which they sometimes played this season. Krediet must go to Alejandro Bald, who played a fantastic ball about the face of the goal with which Torres could score up close.
Man of the game
In addition to scoring the opening goal of the competition, Torres continued to work on Thursday for a large part of his 68 minutes on Thursday. He took four shots and he himself generated 1.18 expected goals, a considerable group of the 3.19 XG that the team had through the last whistle, while he continued to prove his value as a valuable attacking option, even when Lewandowski and Raphinha could not start on Thursday.
What this result means for Barcelona
Barcelona has now played the same number of matches as their opponents in La Liga and have a three -point lead over the second place Real Madrid. Their lead over Atletico Madrid is seven points with 10 more games to go in the season.
What is the following
Barcelona returns to La Liga Play on Sunday when they are confronted against 13th place Girona and then play in the second stage of the Copa del Rey semi-finals against Atletico Madrid playing a 4-4 draw in the first stage in February.