BARCELONA
\nBarcelona thrashed 10-man Real Betis 4-0 on Saturday to move a step closer to winning La Liga for the first time since 2019.
\nReal Madrid beat Almeria 4-2 to cut the gap to eight points earlier on but Barcelona triumphed to restore their 11-point advantage.
\nAndreas Christensen, Robert Lewandowski and Raphinha struck for Barca at Camp Nou with Guido Rodriguez netting a late own goal to round off the rout.
\nEdgar Gonzalez\u2019s early dismissal made it an easy night for Xavi Hernandez\u2019s side to protect their lead with six games remaining.
\nWith his side comfortably winning, Xavi brought on 15-year-old forward Lamine Yamal to become the club\u2019s youngest ever player to debut in La Liga.
\nBetis also brought on veteran Joaquin Sanchez, 41, for his final appearance at Camp Nou before he retires at the end of the season, and he was afforded a standing ovation by Barcelona supporters.
\nThe Catalans bounced back from a 2-1 defeat by Rayo Vallecano in midweek.
\n\u201cWe generated a reaction,\u201d said Xavi. \u201cWe improved a lot, it was a very good reaction from the whole team.
\n\u201cWe went 1-0 up and after the red card, it was in our favour.\u201d
\nXavi brought Christensen into the starting line-up after injury and he made a quick impact on his return.
\nRaphinha whipped in a vicious ball which Ronald Araujo narrowly missed but Christensen followed in behind to power a header home.
\nBetis were set back further when defender Edgar was dismissed for two bookings after half-an-hour.
\nLewandowski pounced soon after to net his 19th league goal of the season after Jules Kounde set him up with a low cross.
\nThe Pole, La Liga\u2019s top scorer, reacted after Real Madrid\u2019s Karim Benzema earlier netted a hat-trick to move within one of his tally.
\nThree minutes later Raphinha struck the third, making a clever run in behind the defence and finishing from Sergio Busquets\u2019 chipped pass.
\nXavi brought on Osumane Dembele with little over 15 minutes to go, with Camp Nou delighted to see the winger back.
\nRodriguez deflected in Ansu Fati\u2019s cross as Barcelona added a fourth goal in the 82nd minute.
\nAlmost 90,000 home supporters were also treated to 15-year-old Yamal\u2019s debut in the final stages, and the winger came close to scoring with a shot repelled by Rui Silva.
\n\u201cWe were talking about this on the bench, when I was at 15 I think I was playing for my neighbourhood team,\u201d added Raphinha.
\n\u201cAnd seeing him come on in this stadium, with all these people, is incredible.\u201d
\nBenzema climbed to 17 goals in La Liga this season with his treble, now two behind Lewandowski.
\nBenzema netted his treble in the first half and Rodrygo added the fourth early in the second for Madrid, while Lazaro and Lucas Robertone struck for the visitors, 15th.
\nAlmeria coach Rubi made several changes to his regular side, clearly unconvinced his team could take points from the Santiago Bernabeu \u2013 the visit of Elche on Tuesday should be more profitable in their survival bid.
\nMadrid played with freedom in attack during an entertaining game, albeit one low on tension with their hopes of retaining the title minimal.
\n\u201cIn attack the team is very dangerous, with the quality of Karim, Vini, Rodrygo, with the ball we play very well,\u201d coach Carlo Ancelotti told reporters.
\n\u201cThere are games where the offensive level looks very good, like today.\u201d
\nVinicius Junior teed up Benzema for a tap-in to break the deadlock early on.
\nRodrygo\u2019s assist for Benzema\u2019s second goal was one of the highlights of the game, with the forward backheeling the ball to himself to escape Samuel Costa.
\n\u201cI think it was a pass to myself, I didn\u2019t have anywhere to go, it was a nice pass to myself with my heel,\u201d Rodrygo told DAZN.
\nThe 35-year-old Benzema completed his hat-trick after 42 minutes from the penalty spot after Largie Ramazani clumsily fouled Lucas Vazquez.
\nBenzema\u2019s strikes helped him move two goals ahead of former Madrid attacker Hugo Sanchez to become the fourth top scorer in La Liga of all time, on 236 goals.
\nVinicius made way in the final stages after taking a knock but Ancelotti said the winger would be fit to play in the Copa del Rey final next weekend.
\nBottom side Elche survived relegation for the time being with a 4-0 win over Rayo Vallecano, who were reduced to 10 men in the first half.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
BARCELONA Barcelona thrashed 10-man Real Betis 4-0 on Saturday to move a step closer to winning La Liga for the first time since 2019. Real Madrid beat Almeria 4-2 to cut the gap to eight points earlier on but Barcelona triumphed to restore their 11-point advantage. Andreas Christensen, Robert Lewandowski and Raphinha struck for Barca […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":328626,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-328600","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-sports"},"yoast_head":"\n