(Football news) Barcelona continued their incredible run in La Liga with a 4-0 win against 20th placed Elche. Barcelona were missing Pedri, Ousmane Dembele, Frenkie De Jong, Andreas Christensen and Raphinha but they still managed to produce a good performance. Ferran Torres and Ansu Fati got rare starts as they flanked Robert Lewandowski up front. Eric Garcia had to slot into midfield alongside Gavi and Sergi Roberto as Sergio Busquets. Lewandowski opened the scoring in the 20th minute from a set piece.

In the 2nd half Fati scored for the first time since 20th January to make it 2-0 to Barcelona. Lewandowski scored his 2nd after being set up by Gavi before Torres sealed the victory with a goal in the 70th minute. The result kept Barcelona way ahead in La Liga and also kept the momentum going ahead of the Copa Del Rey fixture against Real Madrid. 

Real Madrid put on a show to win 6-0 against relegation threatened Real Valladolid. Carlo Ancelotti switched things around as he started in a 4-2-3-1 formation. Antonio Rudiger was unavailable due to a knock while Ferland Mendy suffered another injury. Nacho was also suspended which is why Eduardo Camavinga had to once again start at left back. Toni Kroos and Aurélien Tchouaméni started as a double pivot. Vinicius Jr was on the left while Karim Benzema played as a floating striker. Marco Asensio and Rodrygo switched positions quite often as one of them played on the right while the other played as a number 10. Sometimes Asensio slotted into midfield to make it a flat 4-3-3.

Valladolid started the game well as they had a couple of really good chances and even hit the crossbar. However Asensio set up Rodrygo for the opening goal which opened the floodgates. Karim Benzema scored a hat-trick in 7 minutes as Real Madrid were 4-0 up at half time. Carlo Ancelotti rested some players keeping the Barcelona game in mind. Eden Hazard, Jesus Vallejo and Alvaro Odriozolo made rare appearances while Luka Modric, Dani Carvajal and Fede Valverde were rested. Asensio and Lucas Vazquez scored in the 2nd half to seal a mammoth 6-0 win for Real Madrid.

Atletico Madrid got a slender 1-0 win at home against Real Betis. Diego Simeone started in a 3-5-2 with Antoine Griezmann and Alvaro Morata up front. Memphis Depay was unavailable due to injury while Rodrigo de Paul and Angel Correa both started on the bench. Substitute Angel Correa scored the only goal in the 86th minute to seal an important win for the Rojiblancos. The victory was very important in the context of the top 4 race as Betis and Atletico are both in contention for it. The Rojiblancos will now prepare for an away fixture against fellow Madrid club Rayo Vallecano next weekend.

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