Barcelona on verge of La Liga title as Villarreal secure top four with Levante win

Robert Lewandowski and Ferran Torres took Barcelona to the brink of the La Liga title with late goals to earn them a 2-1 win at Osasuna on Saturday.

Elsewhere, Villarreal guaranteed themselves a Champions League qualification spot with a 5-1 romp over Levante in La Liga.

Diego Simeone rotated his whole team with the Champions League in mind as Atletico Madrid defeated Valencia 2-0 at Mestalla.

Catalan giants Barcelona moved 14 points clear of second-placed Real Madrid and will be crowned champions if their rivals drop points at Espanyol on Sunday.

Lewandowski headed home after 81 minutes to break the deadlock, with Torres slotting in a second with four minutes to go.

Osasuna pulled one back through Raul Garcia late on but Barca secured the three points to close in on a second consecutive league title and a 29th in the club’s history.

If Real Madrid do defeat Espanyol, then Barcelona’s next opportunity to clinch the title will be in the Clasico against their arch-rivals on May 10.

“For me the important thing was that today we did our job, it’s not in our hands what happens tomorrow,” Flick told reporters.

“It’s like that. We have to wait — this is a good situation...

“If we win the title (by Madrid slipping up), we will also celebrate, I think it doesn’t matter (how).”

Barca striker Torres said he would prefer for the title to be sewn up “as soon as possible”.

“We’ve put the pressure on Madrid because tomorrow, if they don’t win, then we really will be champions,” Torres told DAZN.

Barca’s first half was that of a team perched on a comfortable cushion and the feeling of having little at stake.

Without the injured Lamine Yamal, Barca lose a lot of their dynamism, and although they had much the ball in the first half they found it hard to break down Osasuna to create clear chances.

Osasuna had the best opening in the first period, forged by Croatian striker Ante Budimir all on his own, showing strength to hold off two defenders before prodding against the post.

Barcelona had a slightly higher tempo in the second half, particularly after Flick sent on winger Marcus Rashford to play on the right flank.

The Manchester United forward, on loan at Barca, curled narrowly over and offered a welcome injection of pace.

Rashford created the opener with a perfect cross for Lewandowski, who took advantage of slack marking to find space and power a header home.

Torres, another substitute, produced a clinical finish to double Barca’s lead, but they were made to sweat through eight minutes of stoppage time after Garcia headed in for the hosts when left free in the box.

The Catalans battled hard, thumping balls to safety as Osasuna turned the screw, but were eventually able to celebrate a 10th consecutive league win -- and now they wait.

Flick said he was not going to watch Madrid’s clash with Espanyol and instead he was considering going to see magician El Mago Pop.

“I think it’s the last day... maybe I go with my wife,” said the coach.

Marcelino’s Villarreal, third, moved 18 points clear of fifth-place Real Betis, who have only five games left to play.

Georges Mikautadze struck twice in the Yellow Submarine’s derby victory, with Alberto Moleiro, Tajon Buchanan and Nicolas Pepe also on target.

Carlos Espi netted for Levante, 19th, provisionally three points from safety and in severe danger of relegation, with Sevilla and Alaves above them still to play this weekend.

“Congratulations to each and every one of the players. Let’s continue enjoying this moment,” said Marcelino, poised to leave Villarreal at the end of the season according to Spanish reports.

“Let’s keep competing because we want to finish third.”

Agencies