Barcelona defeated rivals Espanyol to take a nine-point lead.

Barcelona defeated rivals Espanyol

Barcelona defeated rivals Espanyol to take a nine-point lead.

Under Hansi Flick, La Liga leaders Barcelona maintained their strong start to the season by defeating local rivals Espanyol to pull nine points clear of Real Madrid.

Following last week’s crushing of Real in their El Clasico match. .

Barca’s attacking flair was once again spectacular.

Bith teenage winger Lamine Yamal once again appearing to be a step above his peers.

For the first goal in the 12th minute.

He sent in a fantastic cross with the outside of his foot, which Dani Olmo turned in off the crossbar.

Eleven minutes later, Marc Casado.

Another gifted young player, delivered an equally superb ball in behind the Espanyol defense. .

And Raphinha, the captain, timed his run precisely to clip the ball home.

On defense, Barca’s extraordinarily high line once again created intrigue.

Full-back Jofre Carreras swept in after Omar el Hilali squared.

Shortly after, Barca took a 3-0 lead thanks to Olmo’s second goal, a thunderous effort from the area’s edge.

In the second half following yet another near-miss.

However, eighteen minutes after the interval, captain Javi Puado came in at the far post to cut the score.

Barcelona shut down as Espanyol improved, but the fourth-bottom team’s.

Terrible derby record persisted, and they finished second best the entire time.

They have now lost six of their last seven La Liga games and gone 27 straight derbies without defeating Barcelona.

Since their lone defeat at Osasuna at the end of September.

Flick’s team has won six straight games across all competitions.

Scoring 24 goals while winning 11 of their 12 league games under the German.

They will want to continue this fantastic run of success when they go to Red Star Belgrade in the Champions League on Wednesday.

Third-place Atletico Madrid defeated Las Palmas 2-0 earlier on Sunday to pull within one point of Real Madrid in the standings.