FC Barcelona 1-0 Alavés: Closer to the top

Thanks to Real Madrid’s defeat at Espanyol on Saturday coupled with a nervy 1-0 defeat of Alavés on Sunday, FC Barcelona have narrowed the gap at the top of the Liga table to four points behind the leaders, and three behind second-placed Atlético, who did get the job done against Mallorca.

And something else has to give next weekend when the two Madrid clubs go head-to-head in the derby.

So, things are looking a whole lot rosier in the domestic championship, even though today performance lacked the razzmatazz of Barça’s others in 2025. Their relegation-threatened guests proved a tough cookie to crack, and ultimately only a Robert Lewandowski goal just past the hour mark could split the sides.

Moment of concern

Such a tight outcome was particularly surprising considering the Catalans had got off to such a dynamic start. The jaw-dropping sight of Lamine Yamal zig-zagging his way through a mass of Alavés players before serving up Raphinha for a chance that sadly went astray suggested we were in for another rip-roaring display, but it turned out to a relatively uneventful 45 minutes, with the visitors getting a worryingly large share of the threat, but Hansi Flick’s offside trap doing its job.

Both sides, and all onlookers too, were particularly shell-shocked by a horrendous clash of heads between Gavi and Tomás Conechny. The latter came off worse, while the Barça player was adamant that he was able to continue, but Flick was already decided that Fermin Lopez should take his place.

Lewy at last

As the minutes ticked by, things started to get worrying. Barça were in control, but not massively so. What little the Alavés defence couldn’t deal with, their goalkeeper Jesús Owono could, and the all-important deadlock-breaking goal was not forthcoming.

The spectre of Leganés and Las Palmas was looming, but Barça pressed and pressed until Alavés were finally broken in the 61st minute. Pedri picked out Lamine, and the 17-year-old’s volley was met with another from short range by Lewandowski, and the Estadi Olimpic could finally smile.

Patient and vigilant

The goalscorer himself put everything in a nutshell with his post-match comments. “A game like today was very important he said.” We can’t always win by 3, 4 or 5 goals. Sometime a team comes that plays deep and doesn’t want to play. But we were patient and vigilant and ultimately scored one goal more than they did.”

“There are games when we don’t get many chances, but we try to find a way into their area to the pass for a goal. We’ve dropped too many points, now we need to win.”

And win they did. The ides now id to go on and so the same thing at Sevilla next Sunday at 9pm CET. But before that, there’s Valencia in the cup this Thursday.