La Liga: Barca wins thanks to a double from Lewandowski as Valencia

Monday in La Liga, Barcelona defeated 10-man Valencia 4-2 thanks to a hat-trick from Robert Lewandowski in the second half.

Real Madrid, in first place, will not be able to win the championship by defeating Cadiz on Saturday thanks to the champions’ victory. Los Blancos have five games left and are leading by eleven points.

Barcelona took the lead thanks to a goal from Fermin Lopez, but Hugo Duro pulled one back and Pepelu converted a penalty kick to win it.

After Valencia’s goalie Giorgi Mamardashvili was sent off for a handball late in the first half, Lewandowski equalized shortly after and added two more goals in the closing minutes.

In drought-stricken Barcelona, it rained nonstop, and the prospect of getting wet caused half of the 30,000 spectators at the Olympic Stadium to leave.

The lackluster attendance may also have been a reaction to Real Madrid’s victory against Barcelona in last weekend’s Clasico, which rolled out the red carpet for them to take both the title and the hated Monday night slot. With just a week’s notice, La Liga postponed the match, which meant that many fans could no longer attend.

Witnesses witnessed a rather exciting brawl.

Valencia, who is ranked ninth and aiming to play in Europe next season, created the most early opportunities.

Hugo Duro’s close-range flick was prevented by Marc-Andre ter Stegen. The winger for Real Madrid on loan, Peter Federico, raced through on goal but missed the mark with his attempt.

Lopez headed home from Raphinha’s looping cross to give Barcelona the lead.

Marc-Andre ter Stegen of Barcelona made a terrible mistake when he rushed out of his box to attempt and intercept a long ball, allowing Valencia to swiftly tie the score.

The attacker controlled the ball and held off Ronald Araujo to roll the ball home after he arrived first and mishandled his attempt to dink over Duro’s head.

As Araujo, who was notably sent out in Barcelona’s Champions League quarterfinal loss to Paris Saint-Germain, carelessly gave away a penalty by falling Federico, things quickly became worse for Barcelona. Pepelu, a midfielder for Valencia, scored a penalty kick down the middle to give Los Che the lead.

Moments before the half, a mistake by Valencia’s goalie gave Barcelona the lead.

The ball was mishandled by Mamardashvili on the edge of his box, allowing adolescent Lamine Yamal to score.

The Georgian touched the ball with his arm outside the area as the young player attempted to get around the goalkeeper. A VAR review led to his dismissal.

Substitution Early in the second half, Jaume Domenech stopped Raphinha’s free kick, but he was unable to stop Barcelona’s equalizer.

Starting from a corner, Lewandowski drove home to initiate Barcelona’s comeback.

The match lurched from end to finish as Barca substitute Pedri made a desperate attempt to stop Diego Lopez from scoring and Domenech made a fantastic save from Araujo’s header.

Eventually, Araujo’s header from a corner found Lewandowski, who headed Barcelona back in ahead from close range.

With a perfectly struck free kick in stoppage time, the Polish international completed his treble—his 16th league goal of the year.

APF