JAKARTA - Barcelona will retain the Spanish La Liga title if Real Madrid fails to beat Espanyol, Monday, May 4, 2026 early morning WIB. Barca is almost certain to win the league for the second time in a row after defeating hosts Osasuna 2-1 at El Sadar Stadium, Pamplona, Sunday, March 3, 2026 early morning WIB.
The victory was not easy to achieve when Barca faced a mid-table team. Through a very tight match, Barca finally managed to get the crucial three points.
The Blaugrana's victory goals were scored by veteran striker Robert Lewandowski and Ferran Torres as the match was about to end. Now, Hansi Flick's team has 88 points. 14 points ahead of Madrid who are in second place.
The result makes Madrid carrying a very heavy mission. They have to win the match against Espanyol at the RCDE Stadium. The mission is not only to reduce the points gap with Barca but also to delay the rival to ensure the title.
If it fails, whether Madrid loses or draws, then Barca can seal the league title for the 29th time in the club's history without having to wait for the El Clasico which will be held next week at Camp Nou. If that happens, the El Clasico duel will lose its intensity. There will be no high tension and emotions from the players of the two teams in the match because Barca is already the champion.
However, if there is no longer a title race in El Clasico, it will be interesting to see if the Madrid players are willing to give a guard of honor before the match.
The tradition is carried out when a team wins a league trophy or the Copa del Rey and the opposing players line up facing each other to welcome the winning team. The eternal rivalry of the two La Liga giants makes them reluctant to do a guard of honor.
"We put pressure on Madrid because if they fail to win, we will be the champions," Torres said, quoted by france24.
Meanwhile, Flick admitted he was satisfied with the victory. However, he stated firmly that Barca had not yet ensured the title.
"We have completed the work well. That's what I want to see from this team. It's just that everything is not entirely in our hands. So we'll see," said Flick.
Yes, Flick and Barca still have to wait for the final result of Madrid against Espanyol. If Madrid wins, then Barca will focus again on El Clasico next week.
"I'm certainly happy and this victory is for the team, the club and the fans," he said again.
In the match against Osasuna who ranked 10th with 42 points, Barca was forced to work hard. Without winger Lamine Yamal, they seemed to lose the dynamic game. Barca also had difficulty penetrating Osasuna's defense to just create goal opportunities.
However, Barca still got a chance through Roony Bardghji who replaced Yamal. Only his shot from a distance was not difficult to be thwarted by goalkeeper Sergio Herrera.
On the other hand, Osasuna had the opportunity to score when striker Ante Budimir got a good chance after passing two Barca defenders. But his shot hit the crossbar.
In the second half, Barca tried to increase the tempo of the game. They put pressure on the hosts. Even Dani Olmo threatened Osasuna's goal although he eventually failed.
Flick then inserted Marcus Rashford to add power. The arrival of the Manchester United loan winger managed to leave the Barca front line aggressive.
Not only that, Rashford also released a perfect cross that was successfully completed by Lewandowski in the 81st minute. The goal through the header managed to break the deadlock towards the end of the match and bring Barca ahead 1-0.
The goal also made the game more intense when the match was only a few minutes away. Not long after or in the 86th minute, Torres consolidated Barca's lead.
Even though they were 2-0 down, Osasuna refused to give up. Only two minutes later, they managed to break into Joan Garcia's goal. Substitute Raul Garcia successfully reduced the score to 2-1.
However, the hosts failed to use the remaining time to equalize. The final score remained 2-1 for Barca, which brought them closer to the league title.
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