Barcelona secured a crucial 1-0 victory against Leganes through Jorge Saenz’s own goal on Saturday at Butarque stadium, extending their lead to seven points at the top of La Liga. The win maintains their impressive 24-match unbeaten run in 2025 and keeps them on track for a potential quadruple this season.
Second-placed Real Madrid face Alaves on Sunday, now under pressure to close the gap on the league leaders.
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Barcelona’s performance lacked their usual attacking flair, but they managed to grind out the win following their midweek 4-0 Champions League victory over Borussia Dortmund.
“The fight and the mentality the team showed today was great,” said Barcelona manager Hansi Flick. “(Madrid) have a match tomorrow but we’re only looking at ourselves, three points is good and we had a great week.”
“In the end what is important in these games are three points,” Barcelona defender Eric Garcia told DAZN. “I think this is the type of game where the league is won… we’re top of the table, which is where we want to be, and today we could extend that distance a bit.”
The match was a reversal of fortunes from December when Leganes won 1-0 at Barcelona’s home ground.
Leganes created the best chance of a lackluster first half when Dani Raba set up Adria Altimira, whose shot was saved by Barcelona goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny.
Barcelona suffered a setback when defender Alejandro Balde was forced off with a muscular injury before halftime.
“Balde is not so good… (but) I will say nothing and we will wait until tomorrow,” Flick commented on the injury.
The breakthrough came after halftime when Raphinha’s low cross was deflected into his own net by Saenz, with Robert Lewandowski’s presence forcing the error.
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Barcelona created several chances afterward, with Fermin Lopez missing a clear opportunity and Lewandowski heading wide from Raphinha’s cross.
Leganes thought they had equalised through Raba’s header, but it was ruled offside. Diego Garcia also missed a good chance late in the game.
The match concluded with a crucial tackle by Inigo Martinez on former Barcelona player Munir El Haddadi, preserving the visitors’ victory.
“The last save (by Martinez) was unbelievable,” said Flick. “Everyone celebrated this as if it was a goal.”
The defeat leaves Leganes in 19th place, two points from safety.
“It’s so tough… we leave with empty hands against a Barca that, while it’s true they attacked against us, they were not as efficient as usual, and you leave with a bitter feeling because we put in a great performance,” Leganes midfielder Renato Tapia told DAZN.
“We can do it (stay up), and I think today we showed it.”
Jules Kounde had Barcelona’s only other notable attempt in the first half, with his deflected shot saved by Leganes goalkeeper Marko Dmitrovic.
Teenage star Lamine Yamal forced a late save from Dmitrovic at his near post as Barcelona looked to secure their narrow advantage.
Flick made tactical changes at halftime, bringing on Frenkie de Jong for Ronald Araujo and moving Eric Garcia into defense, which ultimately helped secure the victory.
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