Barcelona Battle To Keep La Liga Lead As Atletico Madrid Apply Pressure

Barcelona were below par but earned a 2-0 win at Las Palmas on Saturday to move back top of La Liga. After Atletico Madrid beat Valencia 3-0 to temporarily take pole position, the Catalans replaced them with a narrow victory on the road and sit one point ahead of the Rojiblancos. Substitute Dani Olmo produced a fine finish before Ferran Torres drilled home to settle the game and earn Barca revenge for a shock home defeat by Las Palmas earlier in the season.

Champions Real Madrid, third, can pull level on points with Barcelona if they beat Girona at home on Saturday.

"We scored two goals, we took three points and the three-and-a-half hour flight back is much better with these three points," Barca coach Flick told reporters.

"(Olmo) scored the first goal and this goal was very important for us.

"In the first half we missed 5-10 percent, maybe more (from our best level)... the players are also not happy with the performance but they are happy with the three points."

Barca were inaccurate in attack in a tight first half, unable to find the quality they needed to unpick the hosts' defence.

Flick took action at the break and brought on playmaker Olmo in place of the quiet Fermin Lopez.

The Spain international's first contribution was a sloppy pass that flew out of play but he quickly found his focus.

Lamine Yamal skipped forward and slipped the ball to Olmo, who showed good footwork to find space in the box and finish.

Olmo has not featured a great deal since the club's financial problems forced him to be unregistered at the start of the year, until Spain's national sports council granted a temporary measure which allowed him to play again.

The former RB Leipzig star missed some games with a calf strain in January.

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