Barcelona has won a seventh consecutive La Liga game and will finish the weekend top of the table for the second straight week thanks to a hard-fought 1-0 win over Celta Vigo at the Spotify Camp Nou on Sunday night.
Barça played very well for the first 20 minutes and scored their only goal of the game through Pedri, and the rest of the night was about survival as the Blaugrana forgot how to play and had to face massive pressure from a perfect Celta side that deserved at least a point from the match.
They also pressed high and defended with good intensity, winning the ball in dangerous positions and forcing Celta goalkeeper Agustin Marchesín to make three big saves in the first 15 minutes.
The Blaugrana deserved a goal for their early efforts, and they got it in the 17th minute: Jordi Alba made a great long pass to find Gavi, who had his cross poorly cleared by Unai Núñez and Pedri was quick to the ball to score an easy opener.
Raphinha was a real threat in the front three, and the Brazilian had a legitimate shout for a penalty when Javi Galán inside the box tackled him. But both the referee and VAR ignored his complaints, and Barça were denied a chance to double their lead.
At halftime, Barça was on top and should have scored more than just one goal after starting so well, but they had a narrow lead and still needed to finish the job in the second half.
Barça made an awful start to the second half, unable to keep hold of the ball and break the Celta press and losing the ball in risky spots, which gave the visitors big chances to equalise.
Óscar Rodríguez had the two best opportunities of the game but missed the target on the first and saw the second blocked on the line by Marcos Alonso, who was making his Spotify Camp Nou
The visitors finally found the back of the net in the 70th minute with a header from Jorgen Larsen, but Javi Galán was offside at the start of the play, and the goal was correctly disallowed. Barça got away with another one, and they needed a second goal.
The final 10 minutes were about survival for Barça as Celta sent everyone forward and continued to threaten and create chances.
Ter Stegen was very busy, making a sensational point-blank save against Iago Aspas and getting his hands on plenty of balls to keep Barça from conceding. Celta kept on applying pressure, and the equaliser felt like a certainty in the final seconds, but Barça somehow found a way to hang on to the lead, and the final whistle gave them all three points.
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