MADRID (AP) — Barcelona reestablished its three-point lead over Real Madrid at the top of the Spanish league after beating Catalan rival Girona 4-1 on Sunday.
Robert Lewandowski added to his league-leading tally with two second-half goals.
Lewandowski has scored nine goals in his last nine league games and has 25 goals in total in the competition, three more than Madrid’s Kylian Mbappé.
“For me the most important thing is what I can do to help the team," Lewandowski said. “I know that if I score two goals, I’ll be helping my team. As a striker it's important to have confidence for when the ball comes to me.”
Barcelona went in front with an own-goal by Girona defender Ladislav Krejci in the first half. Ferran Torres added the fourth goal for Barcelona in the final minutes at Montjuic stadium.
On Saturday, Madrid had moved level on points with Barcelona with a 3-2 victory over Leganes at home and third-placed Atletico Madrid dropped nine points off the lead following a 1-1 draw at Espanyol.
It was Barcelona’s sixth win in a row in all competitions, and 11th in its last 12 matches. Hansi Flick’s team is yet to lose in 20 games this year, with its last loss coming against Atletico in December.
“We are in great form at the moment and we are creating a lot of chances when we have the ball. What I take from today is our ability to react after the break,” Flick said. “The great thing about my team is that we always want to score goals and everyone likes to see that.”
Barcelona has scored four or more goals in 20 of its 45 matches in all competitions this season.
“When you score four times it means you played a great match,” Lewandowski said. “We've been scoring a lot, and it's important that when we can't score early we have been patient and not changing our game plan.”
Flick praised the “special” Poland striker.
“Lewandowski is really important," Flick said. "I don’t like to pick out individuals but he is special inside the box.”
Arnaut Danjuma scored early in the second half for Girona, which is winless in seven consecutive matches and stayed in 13th place.
Barcelona forward Raphinha stayed on the bench to get some rest following his matches with Brazil in South American World Cup qualifying.
Barcelona visits Atletico in the second leg of the Copa del Rey semifinals on Wednesday. The first match ended 4-4.
Seville derby
Real Betis came from behind to beat rival Sevilla 2-1 at home and win its first league derby since 2018.
Ruben Vargas put the visitors ahead in the 17th minute before Johnny Cardoso scored for Betis in the 25th and Cucho Hernández struck in first-half stoppage time.
Betis strengthened its hold on sixth place and a European qualification spot. Sevilla — which has lost two in a row — stayed 11th.
Manuel Pellegrini's Betis has won four in a row in all competitions — and eight of its last 10 matches.
Other results
Fifth-placed Villarreal won 2-1 at Getafe to gain ground on fourth-placed Athletic Bilbao, which couldn't manage more than a 0-0 home draw with Osasuna. Villarreal trails Athletic by six points with a game in hand.
Valencia moved to 15th by beating eighth-placed Mallorca 1-0 with Diego López scoring the winner in the 50th. It was Mallorca's first loss after six matches.
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AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer
Tales Azzoni, The Associated Press
