If Real Madrid’s late winner at Celta Vigo on Friday night gave them 24 hours of hope that the LaLiga title was still genuinely open, Barcelona’s response on Sunday evening was the kind of statement that closes conversations rather than prolonging them.
A 5-2 victory over Sevilla at the Estadio Olímpico de Barcelona was not just a win — it was a performance that demonstrated why Hansi Flick’s side have been the best team in Spain for most of this season, and why a one-point lead understates the gap in quality.
The headline from the night belonged to Lamine Yamal, who scored his 50th career goal across all competitions to become the joint-fastest player in Barcelona’s history to reach that milestone in terms of appearances, matching the record set decades earlier by a player whose name Yamal’s camp is presumably tired of hearing.
Yamal turned 18 in July, which means he has achieved a milestone that most professional footballers never reach at an age when his peers are sitting their final school exams and arguing about which university to attend.
The performance against Sevilla showed the full breadth of what makes Yamal different — direct running that defenders cannot contain one-on-one, the ability to cut inside and score or switch play to the weak side, and a composure in the decisive moment that coaches spend years trying to develop in players twice his age.
Robert Lewandowski added two goals of his own, continuing a season that has silenced anyone who suggested the Polish striker’s best years were behind him when he left Bayern Munich for the Camp Nou three years ago.
Barcelona’s front line created chances at will against a Sevilla side that had been in reasonable form coming into the match, which makes the margin of victory all the more striking — this was not a team playing badly against an unusually poor opponent.
“He’s a special player,” Flick told reporters after the match, speaking about Yamal with the kind of careful understatement that implies he is still trying to process what he gets to work with every day.
The five goals also gave Barcelona a goal difference of plus-47 for the season, compared to Real Madrid’s plus-35, a figure that could become decisive if the two sides finish level on points with eight games remaining — though at present the gap is two points in Barcelona’s favour.
Real Madrid now need Barcelona to drop points in at least two of their remaining eight fixtures while collecting maximum points themselves, a combination that looks highly unlikely given that Flick’s squad has fewer injuries and more depth in every position across the pitch.
The title race is not officially over — Arbeloa is right about that much — but the mathematics are shifting from difficult to near-impossible with each Barcelona win, and Sunday’s performance against Sevilla showed no signs of a side about to lose momentum.
