FC Barcelona moved 14-points clear at the top of LaLiga with a narrow 1-0 win over a ten-men CA Osasuna at the Spotify Camp Nou on Tuesday evening.
Manager Xavi Hernandez named no changes to the eleven that crushed Real Betis over the weekend and extended their cushion at the top.
Osasuna were on the back-foot and played the rest of the match with ten players as Jorge Herrando Oroz picked up a red card for a poor challenge on Pedro early in the first half.
The Catalans struggled to get rhythm and saw chances to goal reduced to a premium with the likes of Raphinha isolated in the final third.
Within the second half, Barca continued to find the going tough up top though were close to going ahead later on where Ousmane Dembele's first-time volley narrowly rolled wide.
Barca did get the all-important winner five minutes from time as full-back Jordi Alba picked up Frenkie De Jong's pass and slipped through goalkeeper Aitor Fernandez.
The victory takes the Catalans further to the title and moved them 14 points ahead of their fierce rivals Real Madrid.
Real Madrid lost further ground with LaLiga leaders FC Barcelona following a disappointing 2-0 defeat to Real Sociedad on Tuesday.
Los Blancos missed their key front-men Karim Benzema and Vinicius Junior, as this opened the door for Mariano Diaz to start up alongside Rodrygo and Marco Asensio.
It was a fast start though for the title holders and saw Eder Militao drew a tremendous save from goalkeeper Alex Remiro through a well-worked diving header.
Madrid were on the edge before the midway mark as the host post a more potent threat where Martin Zubimendi rattled the crossbar with a fine effort from a loose ball.
However, the host took the lead two minutes after halftime as Takefusa Kubo pounced on a stray pass by Militao and kindly fired past Thibaut Courtois.
Los Blancos went down to ten men in the closing quarter of the second half after Dani Carvajal saw red for a second bookable offence.
The host sealed victory with four minutes to go after Ander Barrenetxea beat the offside trap and cut inside to fire in the near post and dented Los Blancos' title hopes.
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