Things are moving in Barcelona’s favor again, and thanks to Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang scoring is no longer an issue for the Catalan club.
Aubameyang scored his fifth goal after three matches, as Barcelona maintained momentum with a convincing 4-0 win over Athletic Bilbao.
Memphis Depay, Luuk De Jong, Ousmane Debele also scored for Barcelona. This was just after a huge win over Napoli in Europa League. Xavi Hernandez’s team won three consecutively in all competitions, scoring four goals each. They are currently fourth in the Spanish league for the last Champions League spot.
Xavi stated, “We’ve done a good job.” “The sensations keep getting better.” “The team has been practicing hard and the results are starting to show.”
Barcelona moved within one point of Real Betis third place with a game in the hand after its win at Camp Nou. Real Madrid leads by 15 points.
Aubameyang scored in Thursday’s 4-2 win over Napoli and was just coming off a hat-trick in last week’s 4-1 victory against Valencia. The Arsenal striker, 32 years old, was signed in the final minutes of the transfer window last month.
After scoring from close range in half against Athletic, Dembele scored his second goal in the second. This was his first goal since being reinstated to squad.
De Jong won the game with a header in 90th. Depay scored in stoppage time to seal the win for his first goal since November. After being out of action for nearly a month due to injury, this was Depay’s first appearance.
Barcelona was unbeaten in seven matches across all competitions since January’s loss to Athletic in round 16 of Copa del Rey. In its three previous games, the Catalan club outscored its rivals 12-3.
Athletic was eighth in the league after a 4-0 defeat of Real Sociedad, a Basque Country rival. Sociedad, seventh place, rebounded after the defeat to Athletic by winning 1-0 over Osasuna.
All matches in the Spanish league will be broadcast with the message “No to War”
SEVILLA WINS DERBY
Real Betis was defeated 2-1 by Sevilla in the Seville derby, allowing Madrid to remain within reach of league leader Madrid.
The rivals met for the first time since the previous derby was suspended after a Sevilla player was struck by a piece PVC thrown in round 16 of Copa del Rey. The match was halted by Sevilla, who lost the game without any fans.
Munir El Haddadi and Ivan Rakitic scored the first-half goals, before Betis pulled one back with Sergio Canales during stoppage time at Ramon Sanchez-Pizjuan Stadium.
Sevilla remained six points behind Madrid after the result at Rayo Vallecano. Madrid won 1-0 on Saturday. Sevilla also won, allowing Betis to close the gap of eight points to Betis in third place.
Julen Lopetegui, Sevilla coach, said that “We are still alive.” “We earned the three points today, and now we must prepare to win the next one.”
Sevilla has lost just once in its eight previous matches in all competitions – to Dinamo Zagreb in Thursday’s Europa League match. However, it advanced to the next round thanks to this result.
Manuel Pellegrini’s Betis also advanced to the Europa League on Thursday. They had won four of five matches consecutively.
PINO NETS FOUR
Yeremy Pino was the first Villarreal player with four goals in four shots to become the first Villarreal player ever to score four goals in a league match.
Pino scored a hat-trick before halftime, and another in the second period of Villarreal’s 5-1 win over Espanyol at their home.
He was 19 years old and had never scored more that one goal in his entire career. He is the third-youngest four-goal scorer in Spanish league history.
This was Villarreal’s eighth win in 11 league games. Elche suffered its only loss in January.
Unai Emery’s team had just drawn 1-1 at home against Juventus in round one of the Champions League Round of 16.
Villarreal moved up to sixth, three points behind Atletico Madrid in fifth place. The victory was won 2-0 at Celta Vivo on Saturday.
Espanyol’s streak of losing matches reached eight matches across all competitions. It suffered five losses and three draws. It remained at 14th.
