Barcelona closed in on a second consecutive La Liga title after a rare win at Getafe on Saturday.
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BARCELONA — Barcelona closed in on a second consecutive La Liga title after a rare win at Getafe on Saturday, while Atletico Madrid got a much-needed boost before facing Arsenal in the Champions League semifinals.
Fermín López dedicated his 45th-minute opener to the injured Lamine Yamal, Barcelona's leading scorer and assist maker who will miss the rest of the season with a muscle injury but hopes to be fit for the World Cup with Spain.
After scoring, Fermín crossed his arms and held up his fingers to make the “304” sign that Yamal uses to celebrate his goals in reference to the final three numbers of the post code for his hometown just north of Barcelona.
Marcus Rashford went on as a substitute and sealed the 2-0 victory in the 74th as Barcelona earned its first win at Getafe in six seasons.
Also read: Real Betis late goal ends Real Madrid's La Liga title hopes
Barcelona increased the gap over second-placed Real Madrid to a commanding 11 points with just five rounds to go, including a clasico between them at Camp Nou on May 10.
“We'll celebrate at the end of the season if we can. Now it's time to focus on the next game," Barcelona coach Hansi Flick said, looking ahead to next weekend's game at Osasuna. “We wanted a good performance and play in our way against Getafe. We did really well at a tricky stadium.”
Getafe's physical and no-frills defense stymied Barcelona for half a decade in their meetings at Coliseum Stadium. Barcelona had scored only once in its previous five trips to southern Madrid, a run of four straight draws and a loss in 2020. Barcelona's previous win here was in 2019.
And Saturday's game started as yet another slog for Barcelona until Pau Cubarsí won a tackle in midfield and Pedri González seized the chance to catch Getafe's defense finally out of position. The Spain midfielder fed a superb pass forward to beat the hosts' offside trap, and Fermín did the rest by firing past David Soria.
Then, with Getafe pushing forward in hopes of a late equalizer, Rashford raced onto a long ball by Robert Lewandowski and dribbled more than half the pitch before he sized up Soria and fired home.
Barcelona announced on Thursday that Yamal would miss the rest of the season after he picked up a muscle injury in his left leg the day before from converting a penalty in a 1-0 win over Celta Vigo.
“I want to send him a big hug from here,” Fermín said about Yamal after the game. “He is very important for us. It is too bad he can't play but now he can recover well and play in the World Cup.”
Little-used forward Roony Bardghji started in Yamal's spot on the right side of Barcelona's attack. The 20-year-old Swede fired wide on Barcelona's only scoring opportunity before Fermín broke through.
Getafe, which has overachieved this campaign again under coach José Bordalás, remained in sixth place and in the fight for a Europa League berth.
Madrid's already scant hopes of catching Barcelona took another blow on Friday when Real Betis scored in stoppage time to draw 1-1. Madrid is eyeing back-to-back seasons without a major title since the arrival of Kylian Mbappé.
Atletico gets win before Arsenal
Surprisingly for a team that reached the Copa del Rey final, is in the top four of La Liga and the final four of Europe's top competition, Atletico was on a horrible run of results in recent weeks.
Diego Simeone's side had lost seven of its previous eight games across all competitions, including a defeat on penalties to Real Sociedad in the Copa del Rey final last weekend.
But goals by Antoine Griezmann in the 49th and a brace by Alexander Sorloth at Metropolitano Stadium ensured a 3-2 comeback win against Athletic Bilbao.
Athletic got an opener from Aitor Paredes, while Gorka Guruzeta scored in stoppage time.
Atletico, which hosts Arsenal on Wednesday, remained in fourth place with a 10-point gap over Betis in fifth.
Jan Oblak made a second straight start for Atletico after the goalkeeper missed several games with a muscle injury, but Atletico lost midfielder Pablo Barrios after he went down with what looked like a leg muscle injury.
“It was important to win today for our confidence ahead of Wednesday,” said Griezmann, who will leave Atletico to join Orlando City in the MLS next season.
Alaves double
Alaves forward Toni Martínez scored twice in less than 10 minutes to rally his team for a 2-1 come-from-behind win over Mallorca, while Valencia beat Girona 2-1.
Besides the top five teams, the rest of the table was incredibly compact with just 10 points separating Getafe in sixth from 18th-placed Sevilla in the relegation zone.