Barcelona will be one point behind La Liga leaders Real Madrid for at least a few hours to stay alive in the title race thanks to a hard-fought 1-0 victory over city rivals Espanyol on Wednesday’s derby at Camp Nou. Barça had an off-night and struggled a lot to break down the opposition, but Luis Suárez’s second half goal was good enough to secure the win and officially relegate Espanyol to Spain’s second division.
FIRST HALF
Barça started the game with lots of possession and passes in the opponent’s half, but they couldn’t replicate the same movement and intensity from the Villarreal match, and Espanyol playing with nine men behind the ball at all times didn’t help.