Lewandowski and Torres strike late to secure a 2\u20131 win at Osasuna
\n BARCELONA
\nRobert Lewandowski and Ferran Torres took Barcelona to the brink of the La Liga title with late goals to earn them a 2-1 win at Osasuna on Saturday.
\nElsewhere, Villarreal guaranteed themselves a Champions League qualification spot with a 5-1 romp over Levante in La Liga.
\nDiego Simeone rotated his whole team with the Champions League in mind as Atletico Madrid defeated Valencia 2-0 at Mestalla.
\nCatalan giants Barcelona moved 14 points clear of second-placed Real Madrid and will be crowned champions if their rivals drop points at Espanyol on Sunday.
\nLewandowski headed home after 81 minutes to break the deadlock, with Torres slotting in a second with four minutes to go.
\nOsasuna pulled one back through Raul Garcia late on but Barca secured the three points to close in on a second consecutive league title and a 29th in the club\u2019s history.
\nIf Real Madrid do defeat Espanyol, then Barcelona\u2019s next opportunity to clinch the title will be in the Clasico against their arch-rivals on May 10.
\n\u201cFor me the important thing was that today we did our job, it\u2019s not in our hands what happens tomorrow,\u201d Flick told reporters.
\n\u201cIt\u2019s like that. We have to wait \u2014 this is a good situation…
\n\u201cIf we win the title (by Madrid slipping up), we will also celebrate, I think it doesn\u2019t matter (how).\u201d
\nBarca striker Torres said he would prefer for the title to be sewn up \u201cas soon as possible\u201d. \u201cWe\u2019ve put the pressure on Madrid because tomorrow, if they don\u2019t win, then we really will be champions,\u201d Torres told DAZN. Barca\u2019s first half was that of a team perched on a comfortable cushion and the feeling of having little at stake.
\nWithout the injured Lamine Yamal, Barca lose a lot of their dynamism, and although they had much the ball in the first half they found it hard to break down Osasuna to create clear chances.
\nOsasuna had the best opening in the first period, forged by Croatian striker Ante Budimir all on his own, showing strength to hold off two defenders before prodding against the post.
\nBarcelona had a slightly higher tempo in the second half, particularly after Flick sent on winger Marcus Rashford to play on the right flank. The Manchester United forward, on loan at Barca, curled narrowly over and offered a welcome injection of pace.
\nRashford created the opener with a perfect cross for Lewandowski, who took advantage of slack marking to find space and power a header home.
\nTorres, another substitute, produced a clinical finish to double Barca\u2019s lead, but they were made to sweat through eight minutes of stoppage time after Garcia headed in for the hosts when left free in the box.
\nThe Catalans battled hard, thumping balls to safety as Osasuna turned the screw, but were eventually able to celebrate a 10th consecutive league win \u2014 and now they wait.
\nFlick said he was not going to watch Madrid\u2019s clash with Espanyol and instead he was considering going to see magician El Mago Pop.
\n\u201cI think it\u2019s the last day… maybe I go with my wife,\u201d said the coach.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Lewandowski and Torres strike late to secure a 2\u20131 win at Osasuna BARCELONA Robert Lewandowski and Ferran Torres took Barcelona to the brink of the La Liga title with late goals to earn them a 2-1 win at Osasuna on Saturday. Elsewhere, Villarreal guaranteed themselves a Champions League qualification spot with a 5-1 romp over […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":544537,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-544509","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-sports"},"yoast_head":"\n