Suarez sizzles
Luis Suarez and Jordi Alba were on target as Barcelona saw off Eibar 2-0 on Saturday to continue their unbeaten record in La Liga and extend their lead at the top of the table.
Lionel Messi had a hand in both goals against an Eibar side who finished the match at Ipurua with 10 men after the second-half sendingoff of Fabian Orellana.
It was not a comfortable afternoon for Ernesto Valverde’s men on a rainy day in the Basque Country, and they had to wait until Alba’s goal two minutes from the end to put the match to bed.
Still to lose 24 games into the league campaign, Barca are now 10 points clear of Atletico Madrid at the top of the table, although the capital side can trim that lead when they host Athletic Bilbao on Sunday.
Barcelona will now turn their thoughts to the Champions League last 16, first leg against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge on Tuesday, and Valverde will be hoping his squad suffered no ill effects from a testing afternoon.
Valverde sent out a strong team, choosing to start Andres Iniesta and leave Philippe Coutinho on the bench, despite the Brazilian being ineligible for the Champions League. Coutinho came on for Iniesta for the final half-hour.
Barca went ahead in the 16th minute, Messi’s superb pass releasing Suarez, who rounded goalkeeper Marco Dmitrovic to score.
But the visitors had a couple of let-offs in the first half, with Sergio Busquets lucky not to concede a penalty as he pulled back Kike Garcia in the box. Orellana then hit the bar with a fine strike from outside the area.
However, the Chilean was sent off midway through the second half, stupidly picking up a second yellow card for kicking the ball away. Barca eventually took advantage of the extra man in the 88th minute. Messi, who hit the post in the first half, was denied by Dmitrovic, but the ball fell for Alba to score.
Earlier on Saturday, Sevilla warmed up for their Champions League clash with Manchester United by winning 2-1 at Las Palmas, although they were aided by a controversial late offside call.
Goals from Wissam Ben Yedder and Pablo Sarabia had Sevilla in control in Gran Canaria, before Jonathan Calleri pulled one back for Las Palmas from the penalty spot.
And the islanders were denied a 93rd-minute equaliser when an extremely tight offside call went against them — Alejandro Galvez looked to be level with the last defender before putting the ball in the net. Las Palmas remain in the relegation zone.
Having experienced some indifferent form following the appointment of Italian Vincenzo Montella as coach at the end of December, Sevilla have now claimed back-to-back league victories since progressing to the Copa del Rey final, in which they will play Barcelona.
They are provisionally fifth in the table, three points behind Real Madrid in fourth but having played two games more. Zinedine Zidane’s side are at Betis on Sunday.
Villarreal can climb back above Sevilla with a win at Espanyol on Sunday.
Sevilla host Jose Mourinho’s United in the first leg of their Champions League last-16 tie at the Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan on Wednesday.
Meanwhile, Girona continued to impress in its debut season in Spain’s first division by beating Leganes 3-0 for a fourth consecutive home win on Friday.
Christian Stuani and Cristian “Portu” Portugues added to their team-leading goal tallies with strikes to decide the result before halftime.
Stuani converted a penalty in the 23rd minute after Martin Mantovani used his hand to divert a cross destined for the Girona striker. Portu doubled the hosts’ advantage in the 36th after he led a solo counterattack and blasted the ball over goalkeeper Ivan Cuellar from a tight angle.
Juan Ramirez claimed the last with a header at the end.
Girona rose into eighth place, just two points from sixth place and the last of two Europa League spots. The goal was Stuani’s 13th, good for fourth in the league after Lionel Messi (20), Luis Suarez (16) and Celta Vigo’s Iago Aspas (15).
Girona captain Eloi Amagat made his long-awaited first division debut late in the second half. The 32-year-old midfielder had yet to play this season. Previously, Amagat played in the second, third, and fourth divisions over the nine years he has been at the club.
“I had been waiting a long time for this, too long. I am happy to have debuted in the first division, and to do so at home, in front of our fans,” Amagat said.
“We are surprising even ourselves,” Amagat said about Girona’s campaign. “Our goal has to be to make sure we avoid relegation. But we have hungry players and we will be ambitious and take whatever we can achieve.”
Girona earned promotion to the topflight last season for the first time in its 87-year history. That was followed by Manchester City’s Abu Dhabi ownership buying a 44.3 per cent stake in the Catalan club in August. — AFP/AP