Barcelona comeback against Valladolid and maintain an isolated lead in Laliga
Fermín López scores the other goal for the LaLiga leaders, who put pressure on Real Madrid
Summary
Barcelona had an early scare but needed six minutes in the second half to turn the tables on Valladolid and win 2-1, remaining top of LaLiga. The Catalans now have 79 points, seven more than Real Madrid, who face Celta on Sunday at the Santiago Bernabéu. Raphinha and Fermín López scored for Barça, and Iván Sánchez scored for the home side.
The pressure is on Real Madrid. If the team fails to beat Celta this Sunday and loses the Superclásico on the 11th, the 2024/2025 La Liga will end with Barça as champions. Such a combination would separate the rivals by nine points, and a possible draw in points at the end of the three remaining rounds would make Barcelona champions by two wins in the head-to-head.
The 90 minutes
Relegated, Valladolid went after Barça’s reserves and quickly opened the scoring after a timing error by Ter Stegen. After that, Barcelona had 82% possession, 15 shots (their rivals had just two), but lacked force.
Yamal had already come on in the final stretch of the first half after Dani Rodríguez was injured, and Hansi Flick decided to “appeal” after the break and brought Raphinha on the field. The dominance continued absolute, and the Brazilian equalized, and Fermín López turned the game around.
Barca’s schedule
As already mentioned, but it bears repeating, Barcelona will return to LaLiga action next Sunday to face Real Madrid at home at 11:15 am (Brasília time). Before that, however, Hansi Flick’s team will face Inter Milan on Tuesday in Italy in the Champions League semi-final. In the first leg, Barça and Inter drew 3-3.
Relegated and bottom-placed Valladolid also plays next Sunday, against Mallorca, at the Iberostar Stadium, at 1:30 pm in Brasília.
