Madrid: Barcelona remain on top of La Liga with two games remaining as goals from Ivan Rakitic and Luis Suarez earned a 2-0 win over 10-man Real Betis on Saturday.
On a day of high tension when all three title contenders were at one point top of the table, Antoine Griezmann came off the bench to score the winner in Atletico Madrid’s 1-0 win over Rayo Vallecano to remain behind Barca solely due to their inferior head-to-head record.
Gareth Bale’s thunderous header 10 minutes from time kept an under-strength Real Madrid just a point behind the leaders in third in a 1-0 victory at Real Sociedad.
Barca need to win their two remaining games at home to Espanyol and away to Granada to be assured of retaining their title and were given a huge helping hand by Betis despite an unconvincing performance.
“I don’t think either of the other two are going to drop points so we have to win our games,” said Barca boss Luis Enrique. “We need to concentrate on ourselves, be the best in attack and defence and resolve the game with the belief we have shown today.”
Betis defender Heiko Westermann was deservedly sent-off 10 minutes before half-time when he chopped down Rakitic to see his second yellow card in seven minutes.
