The title is edging ever closer to Barcelona. Luis Enrique's side swept aside city rival Espanyol in a potentially tricky test on Saturday, and is now in an almost unassailable position with five fixtures left in La Liga.
The Catalan derby is often a complicated clash for the Blaugrana, but this one was all but over after 25 minutes. Barca, with 80 percent possession in the first half, created a number of chances early on and finally cracked its rival's resistance as Neymar slotted home a magnificent move after 17 minutes.
Lionel Messi had dropped deep into midfield, once a sign of frustration for the Argentine attacker. Not now. These days, Messi moving into the center of the park spells only one thing: danger. The 27-year's old fantastic forward pass for Jordi Alba completely opened up Espanyol's defense, the fullback squared, Luis Suarez dummied and Neymar netted from close range. It was a goal that summed up Luis Enrique's Barca at its brilliant best â and the away side never looked back.
Another impressive move made it 2-0 eight minutes later and this time it was Messi on the scoresheet from a tight angle. Luis Suarez had been in an offside position, yet few could claim Barca didn't deserve it. Even the strange sending off of Alba in the second half could not dampen the spirits of the Liga leader, as it remained on top to open up a five-point lead over Madrid ahead of the Blancos' visit to Celta Vigo on Sunday.
Celta has already beaten both Barca and Atletico this term and a trip to Balaidos will be no walk in the park for Carlo Ancelotti's side, which still has players out through injury and needed a monumental effort to beat Diego Simeone's side in the Champions League on Wednesday.
Madrid (which needs to finish level on points to claim the title courtesy of its superior head-to-head record in the two games against Barca) then faces Almeria at home before a tough trip to Sevilla (unbeaten at the Sanchez Pizjuan in over a year) and a difficult date with Valencia at the Santiago Bernabeu. Those two matches are either side of Madrid's game at Juventus in the semifinals of the Champions League. Ancelotti's men then close La Liga with a visit to Espanyol and a home game against Getafe.
Barca, meanwhile, has now come through the majority of its most difficult matches in the final straight, having claimed a draw at Sevilla, beaten Valencia last weekend and claimed all three points again on Saturday. Luis Enrique's side finishes La Liga with Getafe at home, Cordoba away and Real Sociedad at Camp Nou, before its toughest test -- a trip to the Vicente Calderon to face Atletico. Barca finally returns to the Catalan capital for the visit of Deportivo La Coruna on the last day of the season.
The game in Madrid comes just several days after the semifinal second leg away to Bayern Munich and could leave Barca tired, but rotations by Luis Enrique earlier this season have left the Catalans' far fresher than Madrid, with no major injury concerns either.
"We played our best first half of the championship," the Asturian coach said after the win against Espanyol. "The Liga's most important stretch is approaching now, but I don't think my players will lose concentration because of the Bayern tie."
And midfielder Andres Iniesta added: "All of our matches are finals now."
Barca cannot afford to slip up as La Liga reaches its climax, but all of its remaining fixtures are winnable -- including the game against Atleti, beaten three times by Luis Enrique's side already in 2014-15.
Meanwhile, Real has it all to do with injuries, a much more difficult set of fixtures and a two-point deficit to make up as well, for which it will probably need a hand from Atletico. So only a Madrid miracle can stop Barca from winning La Liga now.
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