Raphinha scored twice as Barcelona edged past Osasuna 2–0 on Saturday to move seven points clear at the top of La Liga.
The Brazilian winger finally broke the deadlock in the 70th minute, curling a fierce strike from the edge of the box to secure Barcelona’s seventh consecutive league victory.
Second-placed Real Madrid travel to Alaves on Sunday seeking to reduce the deficit to four points.
Barcelona were below their usual attacking fluency but showed patience and resilience to grind out the win, keeping their first clean sheet in six matches across all competitions. The result also marked a perfect five wins from five games at their partially reopened Camp Nou.
“The win has a lot of merit,” defender Gerard Martin told Movistar. “They were well organised and it was difficult to find space. With patience and a lot of possession, we finally broke through. A clean sheet gives the team stability, and then the goals come.”
Barca could have gone ahead early when Ferran Torres, preferred to Robert Lewandowski after his hat-trick against Real Betis last weekend, fired over the bar from Lamine Yamal’s inviting cross.
Osasuna threatened on the counter, with Ante Budimir forcing a routine save from goalkeeper Joan Garcia, while Yamal saw two efforts pushed away in a frustrating first half.
Torres thought he had opened the scoring with a header from Marcus Rashford’s cross, but the goal was ruled out for offside in the build-up. He later sent an acrobatic overhead kick narrowly wide, while Garcia denied Budimir again before the break.
Breakthrough at last
Osasuna goalkeeper Sergio Herrera tipped a Rashford free-kick to safety early in the second half as Barcelona pressed for a breakthrough.
That moment arrived when Pedri surged forward and laid the ball off to Raphinha, who rifled a low shot into the bottom-right corner.
Osasuna briefly thought they had equalised when Jorge Herrando found the net, but the goal was disallowed after Alejandro Catena collided with Garcia.
Raphinha sealed the victory four minutes from time, tapping in at the back post after Catena deflected Jules Kounde’s cross into his path.
Deployed in a more central attacking role, Raphinha underlined his importance to the side following his return from injury, having been a key figure in last season’s domestic treble.
“We have many good players,” Martin added. “Whether it’s Rapha or someone else playing inside, they always give us solutions.”
AFP
