Barcelona moved nine points clear of Real Madrid at the top of La Liga, beating local rivals Espanyol 3-1 at the Spotify Camp Nou.
Goals from Ferran Torres (2), Lamine Yamal and Marcus Rashford ensured Hanzi Flick’s side picked up a seventh consecutive win in La Liga and completed the double over Espanyol.
Ferran opened the scoring for Barcelona after just 10 minutes, heading home from a brilliant Lamine Yamal corner.
The Spanish forward had replaced Robert Lewandowski in the starting line-up, and he rewarded Hansi Flick for his decision, netting his 13th La Liga strike of the season.
After 25 minutes, Barcelona and Ferran had two, with the Spaniard yet again combining with Yamal to net his 14th of the campaign.
Yamal danced round a defender before playing the ball in to Ferran, who snuck the ball into the net from a difficult angle.
Barcelona’s No. 10 was pivotal again, as he became the youngest player ever to make 100 appearances in La Liga.
Espanyol pulled a goal back at the start of the second half, with Pol Lozano poking the ball past former teammate Joan Garcia.
Kike Garcia’s strike was parried by Garcia, and Lozano reacted quickest to give the visitors hope.
However, the hosts held on for the rest of the second half, before Yamal and Marcus Rashford struck late on to secure an important victory, putting more pressure on Real Madrid in the title race.
Yamal added the third in the 86th minute, beating the goalkeeper to the ball, before slotting into an empty net.
Just three minutes later, substitute Rashford made it four, latching on to Frenkie de Jong’s pass, before producing an improvised finish.
Flick’s side face Atletico Madrid on Tuesday in the second leg of their UEFA Champions League tie.
