Barcelona are champions of Spain after a worldie by Lamine Yamal along with an assist for Fermin Lopez’s late goal secured a 2-0 win over local rivals Espanyol in the Catalan derby and with it, this season’s La Liga title with two games to spare.
It was Espanyol that started the game on a brighter note, coming close to taking the lead after just four minutes on the clock when Urko Gonzalez got in behind Barca’s high line and fired a shot towards goal. The shot beat Wojciech Szczesny but also came off the post.
Javi Puado was next to go close for the home side in the 15th minute, as he also beat Barca’s high line to test Szczesny, who pushed his shot wide. The Polish goalkeeper was forced to race out of his line to clear the ball ahead of puado 10 minutes later as Espanyol continued taking advantage of Barca’s high line.
Following a goalless first half, it took just eight minutes of the second half to find the breakthrough in scintillating fashion as Yamal cut in from the left flank and evaded a couple of Espanyol defenders before sending a left-foot curler to the top corner of Joan Garcia’s goal.
Espanyol were then reduced to 10 men with 10 minutes to go after Leandro Cabrera was given a red card after VAR review for a foul on Yamal, who would set up substitute, Fermin Lopez, to score the second six minutes into stoppage time and seal a 28th league title for Barca with two games to go.