Barcelona wingers Raphinha and Lamine Yamal guided the Catalan giants four points clear at the top of LaLiga with a 2-0 win against 10-man Villarreal on Sunday.
Brazil international Raphinha won and converted an early penalty before Villarreal’s Renato Veiga was sent off before halftime for a late lunge on teenager Yamal.
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The 18-year-old slotted home Barca’s second midway through the second half, as Hansi Flick’s side restored their advantage over Real Madrid, second, and won an eighth consecutive league game.
Villarreal are fourth after Atletico Madrid moved ahead of them with a 3-0 win at Girona earlier on.
Flick launched into an impassioned defence of Raphinha on Saturday after he was not included in Fifa’s ‘The Best’ team of the year earlier in the week, and the winger quickly repaid his coach.
Raphinha produced an all-action display at Villarreal’s Estadio de la Ceramica, where the match was played instead of Miami, after LaLiga’s plans to take this game to the United States were scrapped in October.