(Football news) Barcelona beat Sevilla 3-0 at the Camp Nou. Xavi started with his usual line-up in absence of Ousmane Dembele. In the 8th minute captain Sergio Busquets had to go off due to an injury as Franck Kessie came on to replace him. Barcelona dominated the first half in terms of possession but they still couldn’t create any clear cut chances. It was all rectified in the first half as the Blaugrana scored 3 goals via Jordi Alba, Gavi and Raphinha. Sevilla’s defending was truly dreadful for all the goals. Barcelona are now 8 points clear of Real Madrid in La Liga with 18 games to go.

Atletico Madrid were held at home to a 1-1 draw by Getafe. Diego Simeone played a fairly attacking 4-4-2 with Thomas Lemar and Angel Correa on flanks while Alvaro Morata and Antoine Griezmann were up front. New signing Matt Doherty made it to the bench as did Memphis Depay who is yet to start a game for the Rojiblancos. The first half was pretty cagey as neither team managed to create a decent opportunity. In the 60th minute, Angel Correa had the ball in the back of the net but the referee ruled it as offside.

In a bizarre sequence of events Correa was substituted straight after but a VAR check changed the decision and Correa celebrated the goal after being substituted. In the 83rd minute Saul Niguez conceded a penalty for handball which was converted by Enes Unal. The game ended 1-1 which means that Atletico Madrid are now 18 points behind League leaders Barcelona.

Real Madrid lost 1-0 away at Mallorca after a lackluster display. Karim Benzema and Eder Militao missed out due to injuries they picked up in the last game while Ferland Mendy and Lucas Vazquez were already out. Eden Hazard injured himself in training while Thibaut Courtois was injured in the warm up. On top of that Ancelotti made the bold call of benching Toni Kroos and Luka Modric.

Real Madrid were massively understaffed and it showed in the game. Los Blancos conceded in the 13th minute via an own goal from Nacho. After that Mallorca defended really well and didn’t give Real Madrid many chances. In the 60th minute Vinicius Jr was fouled by goalkeeper Predrag Rajkovic but Marco Asensio failed to convert the spot kick. The game ended 1-0 and Real Madrid fell further behind Barcelona in the title race.

Also read: Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang’s Chelsea career is practically over after UCL snub