Barcelona exploit Real Madrid’s stumble

MADRID (AP):

B arcelona took advantage of Real Madrid's stumble to kick off the second half of the season with another win and enjoy their biggest lead so far at the top of the Spanish league.

After Madrid's 1-0 loss at Mallorca, Barcelona extended their 10-game winning streak in all competitions with a comfortable 3-0 victory over Sevilla yesterday to open an eight-point lead over Madrid after 20 of 38 rounds.

It is the biggest lead by any team this season, putting them in firm control as they chase their first league title since 2018-19.

"We are having a great season. We have been playing well, not giving many chances for our opponents," Barcelona defender Jordi Alba said. "It's eight points. There's a lot of league left, but it's a good gap."

Alba, Gavi and Raphinha scored a goal each in the second half to give Barcelona their fifth straight victory in the league.

The last game Barcelona failed to win was a 1-1 league draw against Espanyol last year.

Sevilla, who got off to a surprisingly awful start to the season, were coming off two straight league wins that had helped them move further away from the relegation zone. They dropped to 16th place with the loss, two points from the drop zone.

MADRID LOSE

Marco Asensio missed a penalty kick in Madrid's loss at Mallorca in their last match before travelling to Morocco to play at the Club World Cup.

Madrid were depleted by injuries and rested some players ahead of the Club World Cup.

"We already expected a very tough match," Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti said. "We had our chances but couldn't take advantage of them."

Ancelotti couldn't count on several injured starters, including striker Karim Benzema, defender Eder Militao and goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois, who was dropped from the squad at the last minute after getting injured during the warm-up. Ancelotti also rested midfielders Toni Kroos and Luka Modric, who came on in the second half.

Asensio missed a chance to equalise when his 60th-minute penalty kick was saved by Mallorca goalkeeper Pedrag Rajkovic after Madrid forward Vinicius Junior had been fouled. Madrid's last chance was a header by Antonio Rudiger that went narrowly wide deep into stoppage time.

The hosts got on the board with an own-goal by Nacho Fernandez, who was replacing Militao in defence. Nacho went for a high cross and deflected the ball into his own net over goalkeeper Andriy Lunin, who started in place of Courtois.

"I hit the ball with my head and unfortunately it went into the top corner," Nacho said. "It was a complicated match, against a team that is having a good season. It's a pity that we let three points get away."

Madrid were coming off a win against Valencia after being held by Real Sociedad. Their opponents in the semifinals of the Club World Cup on Wednesday will be Al Ahly of Egypt.