Barcelona edged closer to La Liga title with a hard-fought 1-0 win over Celta Vigo on Wednesday, but their goalscoring hero Lamine Yamal was ruled out for the rest of the season due to a hamstring injury.
The young Spain international scored and converted a penalty to secure the victory, only to be substituted before halftime after he was injured. Joao Cancelo also left the match early with an injury.
Barcelona now sit nine points clear at the top of the table with six matches remaining, including their highly anticipated Clasico against Real Madrid on May 10. However, Celta Vigo’s Hansi Flick-led side struggled to find their usual attacking edge without Yamal and Cancelo.
Barca goalkeeper Joan Garcia made several crucial saves in the opening stages at Camp Nou, while Pablo Duran and Ferran Jutgla also had chances for Celta. Lamine Yamal’s penalty was well taken by Ionut Radu, who dove to the right.
Yamal pulled up injured immediately after converting the penalty, receiving treatment on the field as his teammates celebrated. The match was delayed for over 15 minutes due to a medical incident in the stands before resuming and eventually ending with Yamal’s replacement by Roony Bardghji.
Barcelona managed to keep their lead intact until Ferran Torres’ volley from Pedri’s pass, but it was disallowed for an offside call on the Spanish forward. Marcos Alonso added another late free-kick that hit the wall as Celta held on to claim three crucial points.
Meanwhile, Atletico Madrid suffered a 3-2 defeat against Elche at home in their own league match, marking their seventh loss in eight games across all competitions. The Champions League semi-finalists, who will face Arsenal next Wednesday, struggled to recover from their Copa del Rey final defeat on penalties by Real Sociedad last weekend.
Elche’s Nicolas Gonzalez scored twice for the visitors, while David Affengruber added a goal for Elche. Atletico played with 10 men for much of the game after Thiago Almada was sent off in the 30th minute. Despite a strong comeback from Gonzalez, who headed home an effort, Silva sealed Elche’s win with a close-range strike.
Atletico coach Diego Simeone expressed his disappointment over the loss and took full responsibility for the defeat at DAZN.