Barcelona, Real Sociedad both win as rain gives problems in La Liga
Madrid, Feb 8 (IANS) FC Barcelona enjoyed a comfortable 3-0 win at home to Mallorca on Saturday to move four points clear of Real Madrid at the top of La Liga ahead of Real Madrid's visit to Valencia on Sunday.
Vedat Muriqi went close to putting Mallorca ahead in the first half and should have scored from close range, but Robert Lewandowski opened the scoring for Barcelona in the 28th minute when the ball fell kindly to him in the area.
Lamine Yamal scored a powerful strike from outside the box just after the hour and Marc Bernal added a third with a left-footed finish following a surging run into the Mallorca area, reported Xinhua.
Real Sociedad continued its excellent form under Pellegrino Matarazzo with a 3-1 win at home to Elche, who slip into the relegation battle.
Luka Sucic opened the scoring for the home side in the 24th minute before going off injured five minutes later.
Saturday's lunchtime match between Rayo Vallecano and Real Oviedo was postponed four hours before kick-off due to the poor condition of the pitch at Vallecas Stadium, which La Liga said "risked the physical integrity of the players."
The match between Sevilla and Girona was also postponed by 24 hours due to the torrential rain that has hit southern Spain in recent days.
Earlier, FC Barcelona on Saturday confirmed that they are withdrawing from the European Super League, in a major blow to a project which has struggled to get off the mark from its inception.
Barcelona put out an official post on X informing about their exit. 'FC Barcelona hereby announces that today it has formally notified the European Super League Company and the clubs involved of its withdrawal from the European Super League project, ' the club wrote in a statement.
Barcelona president Joan Laporta had hinted in January that the club were ready to move on, urging would-be Super League clubs to "return to UEFA".
The Super League initiative, first unveiled in April 2021, was a breakaway competition proposed by twelve of Europe’s top clubs. Founding members included Real Madrid, Juventus, Manchester United, Chelsea and Barcelona.
--IANS
hs/