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Lamine Yamal celebrated prematurely as he scored the decisive goal, leading Barcelona to a 3-1 victory over Espanyol. This win puts Barcelona on the verge of clinching the league title, marking Yamal's third title at just 18 years old.
Lamine Yamal had not crossed the line yet but he was celebrating already, everyone else following him. It was not over, not officially, but it was done: the derby and the whole damn thing. The nights Barcelona took their last two league titles, they did so against RCD Espanyol, heading beyond the city limits and coming back as champions; the evening they took their third in four years, they faced the same opponents: the rivals Barcaâs goalkeeper had grown up with and so many of them had grown up against. Chased from the Cornella pitch in 2023, cycling up Avinguda Diagonal in 2025, this time it was the 18-year-old with the symbolic escape.
There were three and a half minutes left on Saturday night when it happened. Marc CasadĂł slipped the ball through, Lamine Yamal ran on to it and Marko Dmitrovic ran out to it. The Barcelona forward blocked the Espanyol goalkeeperâs clearance, the rebounded setting him up and leaving Dmitrovic and everyone else to watch the inevitable. Alone, running free into the area, an open goal before him, Lamine Yamal slowed, smiled, maybe even laughed a little, took in the moment, and raised his arms, Usain Bolt contemplating Richard Thompson and Walter Dix. He had not finished, his team had not either, but he knew. They all did.
Lamine Yamal carried the ball into the net and sat on the advertising boards, looking at what he had just done. From by the bench, his teammates headed Lamine Yamalâs way, FermĂn LĂłpez first to arrive. 3-1 up against their city rivals, nine points up on their greatest rivals, on his 100th league game, what he had just done â what they all had â was the league title. At 18, it will be his third. He smoothed down his hair, did a little dance and then the game, finished now, began again. Twenty-six seconds later, Marcus Rashford made it four. Lamineâs pass, another one, had started that too.

Lamine Yamal began his celebrations before scoring the decisive goal against Espanyol. Photograph: Bagu Blanco/Pressinphoto/Shutterstock
The third, decisive goal had been a portrait, a metaphor for the title race, a picture of the way it is: not done but done, not mathematically yet but soon, something to celebrate already. If the fact that it was Lamine Yamal that scored it felt right â if the way he scored it did too, a cheeky grin stretching across his face, untouchable now â the fact that he was even still out there at all was something.
Barcelona had led early, Ferran Torres ending a 14-game run without a goal by getting two of them, the second from an absurd Lamine Yamal pass, and it was almost time for him and Pedri to exit early as planned, a little rest before Tuesdayâs Champions League comeback mission at the Metropolitano. Espanyol had not won in 2026, a 14-game run without a victory beginning the last time they faced Barcelona. Their coach would complain that they had gifted the goals: getting out-jumped by Gavi, 5ft 7in, left you feel liking crapping all over yourself, Manolo had GonzĂĄlez said. And, as they waited in the tunnel for the second half, Gavi had told his teammates âget the third and we kill themâ.
Instead, Pol Lozano pulled one back before the hour and the derby, Hansi Flick admitted, got a bit âtightâ, so Lamine Yamal and Pedri stayed on. âEspanyolâs car broke down weeks ago and the Camp Nou wasnât exactly the place to find a garage to fix it,â wrote El PeriĂłdico, murdering their motoring metaphor. âIn the first half, the engine was making a strange noise and leaking oil, but in the second, it was a well-oiled machine, that uphill street becoming a clear motorwayâ. Still only 2-1 with five minutes left, Roberto FernĂĄndez just failed to finish from the edge of the six yard box. A little nervousness had crept in, an opportunity at risk of slipping by. The place, GonzĂĄlez claimed, was now closer to the Les Corts cemetery just over the north stand, where Paulino AlcĂĄntara and Ladislao Kubala lie. But then Lamine Yamal appeared, easing his way to the line, the Camp Nou rising again, revived, as GonzĂĄlez sat there, head in his hands. Espanyol had been stuck at someone elseâs party again, wishing they were not there.

Manolo GonzĂĄlez watched on as his team succumbed to yet another defeat. Photograph: Bagu Blanco/Pressinphoto/Shutterstock
There were olĂ©s and songs, chants that Espanyol could go back to segunda: after a brilliant start to the season, their cushion over relegation is still six points but they have only picked up five of 42, a run the defender Fernando Calero called âfucking shitâ. Then fans broke out their Bad Moon Rising. Parakeets, tell me how it feels / to have your home in Cornella / They tore down Sarria / You went up the mountain / We kicked you out the city / You went down to be champions / Letâs pray you disappear. At the full-time whistle, there were a few words â âEveryoneâs a gunslinger when they win; when you lose, you have to swallow it,â GonzĂĄlez said later â but mostly there were embraces. Barcelonaâs players â eight of those who played had been in the academy, raised on this rivalry â briefly bounced about before the fans and then headed around the pitch, chanting: âYes, we can!â
Before the derby, Flick had said that the priority was the Champions League, that that was the trophy they really wanted, and after it the domestic title soon gave way to something bigger. And yet, his lineup belied that. Real Madrid had dropped two more points on Friday to go with the three they dropped eight days earlier, and the following evening Barcelonaâs starting XI was about as good as it gets, no concessions made. As the derby progressed, fatigue was a fear but this opportunity was too good to let go of. And there, at the end, was Lamine Yamal, the title inevitable now.
Incontestable too. On Friday, Madrid drew 1-1 with Girona having been denied a last minute penalty, despite Kylian MbappĂ© lying with blood across his face where he had been hit by Vitor Reisâs elbow. Yet while fans were furious, the whistles from the Santiago BernabĂ©u showed that this went deeper: real anger is reserved for their own team and, stripped to basics, they know the title is explained by something simpler: Barcelona are better. Much better.

Real Madrid felt hard done by in their draw against Girona after not receiving a penalty for Vitor Reisâs elbow to Kylian MbappĂ©âs face. Photograph: Mutsu Kawamori/AFLO/Shutterstock
When Madrid won the clĂĄsico in October, it was hard to think of an outstanding performance but there was a sense that something might be building and they were five points ahead of Barcelona, for whom something was wrong. This was the kind of win that can set up a whole season and Madrid would be top until week 14. Flick, meanwhile, had warned âego kills successâ as early as week three and had seen his team torn apart by Sevilla a fortnight before the clĂĄsico. That night though, Madridâs victory was eclipsed by VinĂcius JĂșnior stomping off, which seemed absurd at the time and significant as the days passed. They soon drew three in a row â Rayo, Elche, Girona â then lost to Celta. Barcelona beat them in the Super Cup final. Xabi Alonso was sacked. Albacete beat them in the Copa del Rey.
It got better briefly, flashes of something that they still hang on to, especially in Europe, but mostly it got worse. Certainly in the league. It is still hard to think of a really impressive performance. Betis perhaps? Gonzalo GarcĂaâs grand night. By contrast, Barcelona have won 19 of 21 games since the clĂĄsico â nineteen â and although Girona took them to pieces, that served as a warning and the other defeat, against Real Sociedad, was hard to fathom, Rino Matarazzo looking to the sky and citing âother explanationsâ, celestial ones. Although the vulnerability remains, although AtlĂ©tico destroyed them in the cup then defeated them in Europe, Barcelona have dropped points only twice since October; Madrid have dropped points in four of the last seven games.
When Barcelona secured another derby win on Saturday night, unbeaten now in 30 games against Espanyol, they moved nine points clear at the top of the table with only 21 points left in play. Sportâs cover declared âthe league in the bag,â while El Mundo Deportivo described it as âa party that tastes like league,â before both of Cataloniaâs sports dailies moved on to bigger business inside. Ahead of the rest, unreachable now and aware that it was done before it officially was, Lamine Yamalâs moment, the smile and the celebration, summed it up. âNo, itâs not over,â Flick said but the line is just there and no one is going to catch them now.
| Pos | Team | P | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Barcelona | 31 | 54 | 79 |
| 2 | Real Madrid | 31 | 36 | 70 |
| 3 | Villarreal | 31 | 20 | 61 |
| 4 | Atletico Madrid | 31 | 19 | 57 |
| 5 | Real Betis | 31 | 7 | 46 |
| 6 | Celta Vigo | 31 | 4 | 44 |
| 7 | Real Sociedad | 31 | 1 | 42 |
| 8 | Getafe | 30 | -4 |
Lamine Yamal scored the decisive goal in the 3-1 victory, showcasing his skills and helping secure the win.
Yamal's goal puts Barcelona nine points ahead of their rivals, effectively placing them on the verge of winning the league title.
Lamine Yamal achieved his third league title at the age of 18.
The final score of the match was 3-1 in favor of Barcelona against Espanyol.
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| 41 |
| 9 | Osasuna | 31 | -1 | 39 |
| 10 | Espanyol | 31 | -11 | 38 |
| 11 | Athletic Bilbao | 31 | -12 | 38 |
| 12 | Girona | 31 | -12 | 38 |
| 13 | Rayo Vallecano | 31 | -9 | 35 |
| 14 | Valencia | 31 | -12 | 35 |
| 15 | Mallorca | 31 | -9 | 34 |
| 16 | Sevilla | 31 | -12 | 34 |
| 17 | Alaves | 31 | -11 | 33 |
| 18 | Elche | 31 | -8 | 32 |
| 19 | Oviedo | 31 | -24 | 27 |
| 20 | Levante | 30 | -16 | 26 |