Barcelona made light work of struggling Osasuna, winning 3-0 at the Estadi Olímpic Lluís Companys without breaking a sweat.
Ferran Torres’ 14th goal of the season gave the hosts the lead in the 11th minute, and Dani Olmo’s retaken penalty doubled it with 25 minutes left to play of the first half.
Osasuna hardly saw the ball at first, but grew into the game a little at the start of the second half. However, substitute Robert Lewandowski’s late header following a slick counterattack killed off the visitors, leaving them well and truly in the relegation dogfight.
As it happened
As mismatches go, Barcelona’s clash with Osasuna was right up there. The visitors had won one La Liga game since early November, whereas Hansi Flick’s side were still yet to lose in 2025. Even without Robert Lewandowski and Raphinha in the starting lineup, all signs pointed towards a relatively routine Barcelona win.
There was added impetus for the hosts, with this fixture rescheduled after the tragic and sudden passing of club doctor Carles Miñarro Garcia just before kick off on March 8th. More than anything, Barcelona wanted to win this game for him.
They started as they meant to go on, almost announcing their plan of action in the opening 10 minutes. Alejandro Baldé was the outlet, galloping forward from left back to first send a cross into the arms of Sergio Herrera in the sixth minute, before pulling the ball back to Olmo three minutes later, only for the makeshift winger to fire wide of the target.
He’d so far been writing cheques his teammates couldn’t cash, but on 11 minutes, a Baldé cross found the feet of Torres in the box and, this time, the ball was poked past a flailing Herrera and into the back of the net. Barcelona were in front. Osasuna had hardly touched the ball.
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Lamine Yamal was up to his usual tricks shortly afterwards, lofting a ball into the area in search of the man who gave his side the lead. Torres watched the ball over his shoulder and steadied himself just enough to get a shot away but could only watch as Herrera spread himself to force a corner.
Miss aside, Barcelona had spotted another weakness in the frail Osasuna backline. Eighteen minutes in, another ball over the top of the defence, this time courtesy of Pedri, isolated Olmo in the middle and he delicately flicked the ball over the goalkeeper. Herrera stuck a desperate leg out, Olmo crashed into him and referee Mateo Busquets wasted no time pointing to the spot.
Up stepped the man who won the penalty to take it. Olmo fired to the goalkeeper’s right and could only look on aghast as Herrera got down to make the save. He celebrated, unsurprisingly, as if he’d scored a goal himself, his previous error now redeemed.
Or so he thought. On further inspection, Jon Moncayola had made his move into the box a tad too early. The encroachment spotted, Olmo was given a second chance and this time he wasn’t to be denied. He went the same way as before. Herrera did not. Barcelona were two up and cruising.
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On the back of the international break, there was no surprise that someone might have to be withdrawn through injury. Unfortunately for The Blaugrana, Olmo was that man. Having scored in the 21st minute, he’d be taken off after an apparent muscle issue in the 26th, with Fermín López coming on in his place.
They wouldn’t lie down despite the injury. Yamal weaved in and out of defenders before curling an effort just wide of the far post on the half-hour mark, and Torres whipped a free kick onto the crossbar 10 minutes later. Osasuna, for their part, were forced into a change of their own, when Iker Muñoz was taken off for Rubén García after another off-the-ball injury.
Come the second half, the visitors managed to grow into the game just a little. Two minutes in, Jorge Herrando passed up their best (and, thus far, only) chance of the game, heading wide from point blank range.
Fifteen minutes later, substitute Moi Gómez latched onto a Jesús Areso cross after Barcelona’s high line was finally exploited, but his shot was weak and forced out of play by a perfectly timed Iñigo Martínez slide.
After resting on their laurels for much of the half, one rapid counterattack was all they needed. Fermín raced in behind a thin defence, picked out Lewandowski in the box and let the substitute do the rest, as he powered a header past Herrera. His 36th goal of the season was Barcelona’s third of the evening, and they were home and dry without having to work that hard at all.
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Barcelona faced no issues running down the clock after that. It was another routine victory for a side who now sit three points clear at the top of the table. After 19 games without a single defeat, it’s hard to argue with that they’re not good value for that spot either, as Flick’s side continue to compete on all three fronts.
As for Osasuna, it’s another step in the wrong direction, especially considering they’d even won the return fixture back in September. They may sit 14th in the table, only a point clear of the relegation zone. These are certainly two teams going in different directions. Only Barcelona are going up.
The lineups
BAR: Szczęsny; Koundé, García, Martínez, Baldé; Pedri, De Jong, Gavi; Yamal, Torres, Olmo
OSA: Herrera; Areso, Catena, Herrando, Cruz; Ibáñez, Muñoz, Moncayola; Arnaiz, Raúl, Oroz