Barcelona marches toward La Liga title before Inter Milan decider in Champions League
BARCELONA Spain AP Raphinha and Ferm n L pez saved Barcelona from a stumble at relegated Valladolid on Saturday helping it close on the La Liga title before a crunch Champions League match at Inter Milan Halftime substitute Raphinha canceled out Valladolid s first-half opener in the th minute L pez continued his quietly superb season by bagging the winner six minutes later for a - road win Hansi Flick played with fire by rotating his starting XI ahead of Tuesday s trip to Milan where Barcelona and Inter will see which can tip the balance in their semifinal after delivering a - thriller this week in Spain I am happy that we won the three points but I am also happy that selected players had less minutes before the pivotal match against Inter on Tuesday Flick mentioned Even though his company was trailing - at halftime Flick stuck to his plan to play only top midfielder Pedri Gonz lez for the first half before replacing him with Frenkie de Jong First-choice center backs Pau Cubars and igo Mart nez didn t play Yamal and Raphinha spark comeback Valladolid made a surprising start when Iv n S nchez s shot deflected off Ronald Ara jo hit the turf and looped over goalkeeper Marc-Andre ter Stegen who was making his first start since recovering from a right knee injury in September Barcelona was stalled until Lamine Yamal replaced injured debutant Daniel Rodr guez whose first battle ended after just over half an hour when he hurt his right arm Raphinha replaced an ineffective Ansu Fati at halftime The Brazil forward who has come through in the clutch for Barcelona this season drilled in a loose ball after goalie Andr Ferreira punched a cross by Yamal to the edge of the area Ferm n followed up moments later with a precise low strike into the corner Yamal had a goal-bound shot saved on the line by Valladolid s Antonio Candela in the th The -year-old also delivered the dribble of the match when he spun with the ball to twirl past two defenders Barcelona opened a seven-point gap over Real Madrid which it beat last weekend in the Copa del Rey final to launch its bid for a treble Madrid hosts Celta Vigo on Sunday After this round there will be four games left including a clasico in Barcelona next weekend Ter Stegen returns I was really eager to play and enjoy being on the field And there is no better way to return than with a win Ter Stegen announced on his first appearance in seven months We are keeping up the momentum ahead of certain spectacular games Flick had noted that Ter Stegen would see certain action in La Liga but that Wojciech Szczesny will continue to play in the Champions League Defender Andreas Christensen made his first start of the season in defense after a long injury absence Barcelona midfielder Gavi P ez appealed to be substituted late in the match It is unclear if it was due to muscle cramps or a realizable injury Barcelona already has striker Robert Lewandowski right back Jules Kound and left back Alejandro Balde on its injury list Protest against Ronaldo Valladolid was relegated last week after winning just four of games before Barcelona came to the city in north-western Spain Valladolid s disgruntled fans protested against club owner Brazil and Real Madrid great Ronaldo before and during the Barcelona match Supporters waved fliers that looked like -euro notes with the face of Ronaldo and the message in English Ronaldo go home on them before tossing them toward the turf They also chanted for him to leave Other results Third-placed Atletico Madrid drew at Alav s - as Diego Simeone was left five points behind fierce rival Real Madrid Ayoze P rez s double led Villarreal to a - win over Osasuna and reinforced its hold on fifth place which next season will earn a Champions League berth Real Betis in sixth was four points behind with a meeting in hand Hugo Duro scored twice for Valencia as it won at Las Palmas - and kept the Canary Islands club in the relegation zone AP soccer https apnews com hub soccer Source
