Updated at 22.32

ROBERT LEWANDOWSKI bagged a brace as Barcelona eased to a 4-1 victory over Girona to move three points clear at the top of La Liga on Sunday.

After second-placed Real Madrid pulled level on points with them on Saturday by beating Leganes, Hansi Flick’s side restored their advantage at the Olympic Stadium.

Lewandowski responded to Madrid striker Kylian Mbappe’s double with one of his own to stay three goals ahead in the race for Spain’s golden boot.

Barcelona, unbeaten this year in 20 matches, took the lead through a Ladislav Krejci own goal near the end of the first half.

Arnaut Danjuma pulled Girona level, but Lewandowski netted twice, and Ferran Torres finished off the rout.

“We played with patience, we had a plan, and if we play with that plan, we can always score a lot of goals and win the game,” veteran striker Lewandowski told DAZN.

The 36-year-old said he had the legs to keep playing for seasons to come.

“I know a lot of people are talking abut my age but… I want to play more years at the top level,” said the Poland international.

“I feel very good physically, I think, looking at the stats there’s no difference now to a few years ago.”

Girona beat Barcelona twice last season but have struggled to hit those heights again and sit 13th.

“They were superior,” admitted Girona coach Michel Sanchez.

“There’s a difference between the teams, and that’s the truth… Barcelona dream of titles every year.”

Flick rotated some of his usual suspects with the Copa del Rey semi-final clash against Atletico Madrid in mind.

Barca were below their free-flowing best in the first half despite dominating, occasionally threatening through the dynamic running of teenage star Lamine Yamal and frantic energy of Fermin Lopez.

Barcelona wanted a penalty when Fermin was brought down by Yaser Asprilla on the edge of the box, and a free-kick was given.

A VAR review showed the contact was inside the area, but the referee decided Lopez fouled Asprilla as they came together, much to Barcelona’s chagrin.

- Breakthrough -

Paulo Gazzaniga produced a sensational save with his fingertips to push out a Ronald Araujo header, but Barca found a way through before half-time.

Yamal’s dangerous free-kick aimed at Eric Garcia was deflected into his net by Krejci at the near post.

Girona had produced very little of note in the first half but were back level eight minutes into the second through Danjuma.

Daley Blind played the Dutch striker through, and he beat Wojciech Szczesny with a clinical low finish.

However, Barcelona were swiftly back in front as La Liga’s top goalscorer Lewandowski notched his 24th of the campaign.

Lopez nodded the ball across the six-yard box, and Lewandowski contorted his body to reach it and flick it between Gazzaniga’s legs.

The forward secured Barcelona’s victory with his 25th, slotting home after substitute Frenkie de Jong pushed forward into space and fed him.

There was time for Torres to add a fourth after Gerard Martin found him and for the brilliant Yamal to bend a strike against the crossbar.

This was, remarkably, the 20th time this season Flick’s side have scored four goals or more from 45 games, with a potential treble in their sights.

“This is what I love about my team, they always want to score goals, it’s always like that,” Flick told reporters.

“This is the mentality and the attitude of the team, and it’s good. I think everyone loves it, you love it, the fans love it, the club loves it, and everyone is happy at the moment.”

Elsewhere, fourth-place Athletic Bilbao were held to a 0-0 draw at home by Osasuna, allowing Villarreal to cut the gap on them to six points after beating Getafe 2-1.

Real Betis, sixth, won their sixth game in a row to stay on Villarreal’s tail, beating rivals Sevilla 2-1 in a derby clash.

Valencia’s 1-0 win over Mallorca took them to 15th, four points clear of the relegation zone.

Players of FC Internazionale celebrate the victory.Source: Alamy Stock Photo

In Italy, Napoli stayed on the heels of Serie A leaders Inter Milan on Sunday after beating AC Milan 2-1 to remain three points off the pace in the Scudetto race.

Antonio Conte's side were ahead with a minute on the clock through Matteo Politano's thumping low finish, and once Romelu Lukaku scuffed in the second in the 19th minute, the hosts had a big enough cushion to claim the three points.

Sunday's win was huge for Napoli as next week's fixture at fourth-placed Bologna is the only one of their final eight fixtures to be against a team in the top half of the division.

And unlike Inter, who squeezed past Udinese 2-1 earlier on Sunday, Napoli have no European or Italian Cup commitments and can focus exclusively on trying to win their second league crown in three seasons.

Milan were dismal in the first half, but the introduction of Rafael Leao and Santiago Gimenez after the break helped shake Sergio Conceicao's team from their stupor.

Gimenez could have cut the gap from the penalty spot in the 69th minute but Alex Meret saved his low effort, following a daft foul on Theo Hernandez by Philip Billing.

Another substitute, Luka Jovic, pushed home Hernandez's low cross with six minutes to go, but Milan stay ninth and nine points away from the Champions League positions after leaving it too late to mount a comeback.

Milan now face Inter in the first leg of their Italian Cup semi-final on Wednesday before Fiorentina visit the San Siro next weekend, with their Champions League hopes hanging by a thread.

- Nervy Inter -

Goals in the opening half an hour from Marko Arnautovic and Davide Frattesi were just enough to give Inter their third straight win ahead of the first cup derby with Milan.

But nervy Inter almost threw the points away after coach Simone Inzaghi made a series of changes midway through the second half, and Oumar Solet halved the deficit for Udinese with a rocket of a shot in the 71st minute.

Inter have a huge month coming up as they also face a titanic Champions League quarter-final with Bayern Munich and tricky fixtures with fourth-placed Bologna and Roma, which could be crucial to their title defence.

"We almost failed to win a match which we started really well. At a certain point, we just stopped playing," said Inzaghi, who was sent off after blowing his top at his team and officials in the final minutes.

Inzaghi will be happy to have seen second-string players step up given his team's upcoming commitments, with Arnautovic and Frattesi giving Inter a fully-deserved two-goal lead at half-time by sweeping home Federico Dimarco crosses in the 12th and 29th minutes.

Inter have also all but ended Atalanta's slim hopes of winning their first league crown, with the Bergamo outfit nine points off the pace with eight matches remaining after slumping to a 1-0 defeat at Fiorentina.

Moise Kean inflicted a first league away defeat for Atalanta since August when he confidently netted his 16th league goal of the season on the stroke of half-time after robbing Isak Hien on the halfway line.

Gian Piero Gasperini's team have won just four league matches in 2025 and are now only two points ahead of Bologna.

"We lacked the dynamism and energy to give Fiorentina any difficulty... we just have to put it behind us and look ahead," said Gasperini.

Cagliari strengthened their bid to avoid relegation by thumping rock-bottom Monza 3-0 and moving six points clear of the drop zone.

– © AFP 2025