In a gripping encounter in the Spanish league, Robert Lewandowski emerged as the hero for Barcelona, netting the decisive goal in a 1-0 victory over Alaves on Sunday. This win brings Barcelona within four points of their arch-rivals, Real Madrid, who stumbled with a loss against Espanyol earlier.
Real Madrid's defeat, after winning 10 of their last 11 matches across all competitions, provided a crucial opening for Barcelona to narrow the gap. The Catalan giants are now hot on the heels of second-placed Atletico Madrid, trailing them by just three points. Atletico had marked their return to form with a convincing 2-0 win over Mallorca.
Speaking after the match, Lewandowski expressed the team's urgency to secure victory. We knew we had to win this match, he stated. We needed the victory. We had lost too many points in the league already. The Polish striker, maintaining his prolific form, has now found the net for four consecutive matches, tallying a total of seven goals in his last eight appearances.
The solitary goal occurred when Lewandowski capitalized on a deflection from Lamine Yamal's volley, neatly tucking the ball in from close quarters. This match was an anomaly for Barcelona, who had previously enjoyed an exceptional scoring spree, notching 14 goals in their recent trio of games, including an emphatic 7-1 triumph against Valencia in the league.
Despite the restrained scoreline, Lewandowski acknowledged the need for patience in gameplay. It's not every time that we will be able to score three, four, or five goals in a game, he noted. We had to be patient and, in the end, we did what we had to do, which was to score one more goal than our opponent.
Alaves, unable to pose a significant threat to Barcelona's defense, remained dangerously positioned within the relegation zone. Their struggles continued, managing only one win in their last 11 competitive appearances and failing to register a single shot on target in this match-up.
An early incident marred the initial stages of the match, with Barcelona's Gavi and Alaves' Tomás Conechny both needing to be substituted due to a head collision. While Gavi was able to walk away from the field, Conechny required a stretcher and was promptly taken to a local hospital for further evaluation. Updates on his condition had yet to be announced.
