Three takeaways from Barcelona 1-0 Celta Vigo | La Liga MD32

First, Joao Cancelo was forced out through injury, leaving the field before the 25-minute mark and forcing Hansi Flick to make an early substitution.

Less than 20 minutes later, Lamine Yamal went down immediately after converting the penalty and could not continue, forcing Flick to use up another substitution window before half-time.

By half-time, the Catalans had thus lost two of their biggest attacking presences and two substitution windows.

Further, they even lost their momentum by that time as a medical emergency in the stands led to the game being stalled for close to 15 minutes.

To lose Yamal and Cancelo at this critical stage of the season comes as a huge blow, and the tensions were indeed high after the game.

While initial reports around Cancelo’s situation are promising and indicate it could just be a knock, the story with Yamal is concerning as he may have suffered a hamstring tear. He will, thus, be out for a few weeks at least.

A clean sheet under pressure

Barcelona kept a clean sheet. (Photo by Denis Doyle/Getty Images)

Joan Garcia is currently the leader in the standings for the Zamora Trophy and is only pending eligibility, which he will secure by playing a couple of more games for the team in La Liga.

Having a significantly lower rate of goals conceded, he is ahead of the likes of Thibaut Courtois and Unai Simón.

Last night, the player added one more appearance to his tally with no goals conceded, and the importance of the clean sheet cannot be understated, given the game situation.

Lamine Yamal left the field of play with an injury in the first half, and with him went over half of the team’s attacking channel and creativity.

He was one of the single-biggest difference makers in the first half, and his departure put pressure on the Catalans after the break.

Despite playing without their star player, however, Barcelona dished out a very mature game after the break and did not lose out on possession easily.

They stayed in control, dominated the ball and saw the likes of Pedri and Frenkie de Jong take charge.

The defence, moreover, was spectacular with Gerard Martin in particular dishing out a clinic.

In 90 minutes, the youngster won all three attempted tackles, three interceptions, made seven clearances, blocked one shot and made one recovery. He also won seven out of nine attempted duels.

The midfield’s dominance, coupled with the defence’s good day out, both helped add to Joan Garcia’s massive saves to ensure Barcelona defend their one-goal lead comfortably.

The result was the team’s first clean sheet since late March.

One step closer

La Liga is now in its closing stages, and every win takes Barcelona one step closer to the title given their sizeable lead over Real Madrid.

Barcelona are edging closer to the La Liga title. (Photo by Alex Caparros/Getty Images)

Ahead of the match day, the Catalans had a nine-point lead at the top. Real Madrid, however, won their game on Tuesday and reduced the deficit to six, putting the pressure on Barcelona.

With their win last night, Barcelona are nine points clear once more, now with just six games to go.  The title, thus, is within touching distance even in a mathematical sense.

Even if Real Madrid win their next two games before El Clasico, Barcelona can clinch the title at home against Los Blancos by winning their next two games and the Clasico.

Any slip-ups from Real Madrid before that, needless to say, only make the Catalans path easier.

As it stands, Flick will thus focus on ensuring that his side retain the steam just a little longer to seal the title and cap off the season with more silverware. They are now one step closer.