Barcelona secured a composed 2-0 La Liga victory at Villarreal on Sunday thanks to goals from Raphinha and Lamine Yamal in a match that tilted firmly in the visitors’ favour when the hosts were reduced to 10 men just before the break.
It took just 12 minutes for Barcelona to take the lead from the penalty spot after Santi Comesana blocked Raphinha with his back as the winger tried to break through and the Brazilian calmly converted the spot-kick.
Villarreal’s Renato Veiga mistimed his challenge and slid in late on Lamine Yamal, catching him directly on the foot and leaving the 18-year-old in pain. Veiga was shown a straight red card six minutes before half-time, and Lamine Yamal was able to return to action after medical treatment.
Lamine Yamal netted Barcelona’s second in the 63rd minute, pouncing on a rebound after a flurry of chances that Villarreal’s defence failed to clear.
Villarreal continued to put up a fight despite their numerical disadvantage, with Georges Mikautadze breaking clear only to be denied twice by Barcelona goalkeeper Joan Garcia, who produced sharp saves from both the initial effort and the rebound before a third attempt drifted wide.
Atlético Madrid eased to a 3-0 victory at Girona in La Liga on Sunday thanks to first-half goals from Koke and Conor Gallagher and one in added time from substitute Antoine Griezmann as they ended the year with a fourth straight win in all competitions.
In Germany undefeated Bayern Munich cruised to a 4-0 victory at Heidenheim to go into the winter break with a nine-point advantage at the top of the Bundesliga standings.
The Bavarians, who have gone through 2025 without an away league loss, are on 41 points, with Borussia Dortmund second on 32 following Friday’s 2-0 win at Borussia Mönchengladbach. Heidenheim are in 17th place on 11.
It was one-way traffic from the start for Vincent Kompany’s team, despite missing the injured Joshua Kimmich, Manuel Neuer and suspended Konrad Laimer among others, and they took a 15th-minute lead through a close-range Josip Stanisic header at the far post after Heidenheim keeper Diant Ramaj failed to clear a Jonathan Tah header.
The visitors doubled their advantage in the 35th minute with an almost identical move after again catching the Heidenheim defence napping, Michael Olise tapping in at the far post.
The Bundesliga’s leading scorer Harry Kane rattled the post with a fine solo effort and low shot before Heidenheim substitute Stefan Schimmer responded by hitting the crossbar with the hosts’ best chance.
Schimmer should have done better in the 78th with only Bayern’s Jonas Urbig to beat but he volleyed straight at the keeper. Bayern scored again with Luis Diaz’s diving header in the 86th minute and Kane still had time to get on the scoresheet with a fine move in the box deep in stoppage time for his 19th league goal of the season.
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