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MADRID (AP) — Barcelona and Girona failed to take advantage of Real Madrid’s setback in the Spanish league.
Defending champions Barcelona drew 0-0 at Athletic Bilbao on Sunday, while Girona lost 1-0 at Mallorca.
Catalan clubs missed the chance to make up ground against league leaders Madrid, who drew 2-2 at Valencia on Saturday. The weekend’s results meant Madrid increased its lead over second-place Girona to seven points and remained eight points ahead of third-place Barcelona.
Fourth-place Atlético Madrid reduced Madrid’s lead with a 2-1 win over Real Betis, although Diego Simeone’s team remained in fourth place and 11 points behind their city rival after of 27 games.
Barcelona lost two of their best players to injuries, with Pedri and Frenkie De Jong having to be replaced before half-time in Bilbao.
Athletic remains in fifth place, five points away from the last Champions League spot. Before the match, the club paid tribute to a fan who died after suffering a stroke during the Copa del Rey match against Atlético on Thursday.
An even match at the San Mamés Stadium, with each team only two shots on goal. João Cancelo and Robert Lewandowski had some of the biggest opportunities for Barcelona.
“We didn’t play a good game,” said Barcelona coach Xavi Hernández. “It’s a missed opportunity. “We could have done better.”
The coach said that the first injuries affected his team. De Jong left the game in the 26th minute after twisting his ankle, while Pedri appeared to injure a muscle in his leg in the 45th.
“These are injuries to two very important players, it’s unfortunate,” said Xavi. “We are sad because it seems that they will be out for several games.”
THE ATHLETIC REBOUND
Atlético recovered from being eliminated by Athletic in the Copa del Rey semi-finals to strengthen their hold on fourth place.
It was only the second victory in eight games for Diego Simeone’s team, which also lost to Inter Milan in the first leg of the Champions League round of 16, and to Sevilla in the Spanish league.
The victory at the Metropolitan Stadium left Atlético three points behind Barcelona and four behind Girona.
“We are on the right path,” Simeone said. “We have been doing things well and we hope this victory will give us a boost.”
Sixth-place Betis has just one win in its last five games in all competitions: against Athletic in the previous round of the league.
Atlético had not won in three consecutive games in all tournaments. They opened the scoring with an own goal by Betis goalkeeper Rui Silva in the eighth minute, after the defense failed to clear.
Striker Álvaro Morata increased the lead with a close-range header in the 44th to end his seven-match goalless streak. Morata had missed a penalty when Atlético led 1-0 in the first half.
Betis scored with a long shot from midfielder William Carvalho in the 62nd minute.
Atlético was still without its striker Antoine Griezmann due to an ankle injury.
THE RETURN OF GIRONA
Girona lost for the third time in four games and lost the opportunity to get closer to Madrid.
They had beaten Rayo Vallecano last week to end a three-game winless streak, but were unable to overcome Mallorca, who had advanced to the Copa del Rey final on Tuesday by eliminating Real Sociedad in the penalty shootout.
José Copete scored the winning goal in the 33rd minute and Mallorca moved to 15th place, eight points ahead of the relegation zone.
SORLOTH’S HAT TRICK
Alexander Sorloth scored a hat trick as Villarreal defeated second-to-last Granada 5-1 to move into 12th place.
Theodor Corbeanu scored in added time for Granada, who have not won in seven consecutive games.
Villarreal has won two in a row after three straight defeats.
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AP Football: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer
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