Lamine Yamal's penalty takes Barcelona away from Real Madrid

JAKARTA - Barcelona defeated Celta Vigo 1-0 via a penalty from Lamine Yamal in a Spanish La Liga match at Camp Nou Stadium, Thursday, April 23, 2026 early morning WIB. An important victory that made Barca successfully leave Real Madrid.

The victory over Celta makes Barca back nine points ahead of Madrid who previously beat Deportivo Alaves 2-1. With a fairly large point gap, Barca is in a better position than Madrid in the league title race.

Only the competition between these two elite La Liga teams is still tight when the competition leaves six more matches. Madrid still has the opportunity to hunt Barca while waiting for his rival to slip and lose points.

Only Los Merengues have to be more consistent because they lost points after swallowing two defeats before finally winning over Alaves.

Midfielder Pedri said Barca must try hard to avoid losing points as the competition enters crucial weeks.

"We have to win every next game and seal the La Liga title as soon as possible. So, this victory is very meaningful," said Pedri as quoted by france24.

However, Barca paid dearly for the victory. Yamal, who scored the only goal from the penalty spot, suffered a hamstring injury so he was forced to be pulled out. Yamal's injury is likely to have occurred when he was brought down by Celta defender Yoel Lago in the penalty box.

For this offense, the referee also pointed to the white spot. The penalty execution was well executed by the 18-year-old player. However, he then felt pain in his leg so he did not celebrate the goal. Yamal had to undergo treatment for 15 minutes before he was finally pulled out and replaced by Roony Bardghji.

"I hope Lamine's injury is not serious and he will only be out for a few weeks. But we'll see how the examination goes. I hope he recovers soon. The important thing is that he stays calm. I'm sure with his young age, he will recover quickly," Pedri said again.

If Barca is stronger at the top of the standings with 82 points after the match, on the other hand, Celta failed to improve their ranking. They still occupy the seventh position with 44 points.

The same as Getafe but they lost by a goal difference. However, Celta still has hope to compete for a ticket to the European competition.

The match itself was tight and both teams attacked each other. This was also Barca's first appearance after being eliminated in the Champions League. Hansi Flick's team had trouble building an attack and several times received threats from Celta.

Even goalkeeper Joan Garcia had to make a brilliant save to thwart a shot from winger Pablo Duran. Likewise, the opportunity from Ferran Jutgla can still be thwarted by the goalkeeper.

Even though it was late in the heat, Barca quickly got up and the rhythm of their attacking game started to bother Celta's defense. Yamal's shot threatened the guest team's goal.

After many failed attempts, Barca finally broke the deadlock through a penalty in the 40th minute. It started with Yamal's action passing the ball back and forth with Dani Olmo.

However, Yamal was then tackled by Lago so that the referee pointed to the white spot. The execution was taken by Yamal who successfully conquered goalkeeper Ionut Radu. The score changed to 1-0 for Barca and lasted until the first half ended.

In the second half, Barca's pressure did decrease a little. But Celta also had trouble equalizing because their attacks always met a deadlock.

Barca actually managed to break Celta's goal through Ferran Torres in the 55th minute. His volley shot which greeted Pedri's pass successfully conquered Radu.

Only that goal was then annulled because the referee judged Torres in an offside position. The score did not change and remained 1-0 for Barca until the end of the match.