Barcelona extend winning streak to nine matches

Espanyol 0-2 Barcelona

Barcelona have started 2026 as they ended 2025: with victory, after they defeated city rivals Espanyol at the RCDE Stadium.

It was a difficult evening throughout for the league leaders, who were largely nullified by their city rivals. In fact, Espanyol had the best chances to score, with Pere Milla brilliantly denied by Barcelona goalkeeper Joan Garcia, who was taking on his former club for the first time since leaving last summer.

Garcia made six saves in total, as well as a crucial intervention to stop Roberto Fernandez scoring into an empty net after he tried to take the ball around him. He was given a very hostile reception upon his return to the RCDE Stadium, but he silenced those with an MVP performance – his second of the season after the 1-1 draw at Rayo Vallecano in September.

Those misses, or rather, Garcia’s remarkable stops, would come back to bite the home side, as Barcelona went in front on 86 minutes. Fermin Lopez played in Dani Olmo following an excellent driving run, and the midfielder curled home a wonderful effort from the edge of the box.

Four minutes later, the points were sealed in Barcelona’s favour. Again, the goal came from Fermin, who drove brilliantly into the Espanyol penalty area before squaring the ball to Robert Lewandowski, whose chipped effort went in off his own hip.

Barcelona breathe sigh of relief after underwhelming display

It is now nine La Liga victories in a row for Barcelona, who extend their lead at the top of the standings to seven points ahead of Real Madrid’s match against Real Betis on Sunday. It is an excellent result for Hansi Flick’s side, although the performance was generally rather poor, especially before the likes of Fermin, Olmo and Pedri were introduced in the second half.