Raphinha Guides Barca Past Las Palmas To Pressure Leaders Madrid

Spanish champions Barcelona cut the gap on Real Madrid at the top of La Liga to five points with a 1-0 win over 10-man Las Palmas on Saturday. Raphinha headed home in the second half to clinch Barcelona's victory after the visitors had goalkeeper Alvaro Valles dismissed after 24 minutes for a rash foul. Barcelona warmed up for their Champions League quarter-final clash against Paris Saint-Germain, their next match in 11 days' time, with a straightforward victory, albeit by a tight scoreline.

Xavi Hernandez's side are unbeaten in 11 games since the coach said he would leave at the end of the season and their recent form has given them some faint hope of retaining their title.

"We could have scored more, we had many chances to kill the game off," said Xavi.

"It's a summary of our season, we're finding it hard to close out matches."

Real Madrid face Athletic Bilbao on Sunday at the Santiago Bernabeu, aiming to restore their eight-point advantage on the Catalans in second.

"They're three important points, we know they will be important at the end of the season," Raphinha told Movistar.

"We'll keep fighting until the end and we won't give up until the league is over."

Barcelona dominated the opening stages against Las Palmas with Robert Lewandowski and Raphinha both having goals ruled out for offside.

Polish striker Lewandowski hit the bar on another occasion as Xavi's side strolled, although former Barca forward Sandro Ramirez threatened at the other end before taking a weak shot.

Las Palmas goalkeeper Valles was sent off after 24 minutes for rushing out of his goal and clattering into the busy Raphinha.

Lewandowski struck the bar again from Joao Cancelo's cross and Raphinha fired narrowly wide when he might have scored as