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| Ferran Torres of FC Barcelona celebrates 1-0 with Sergio Busquets of FC Barcelona during the La Liga Santander match between FC Barcelona v Osasuna at the Camp Nou on March 13, 2022 in Barcelona Spain. |
Barcelona have scored three goals in less than half an hour en route to a comfortable 4-0 La Liga win over Osasuna at the Camp Nou.
Ferran Torres found the net twice and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Riqui Puig added a goal each to keep the Catalan club in third place.
They are on 51 points with Atletico Madrid but are ahead of the champions on the head-to-head tiebreaker _ and with a game in hand.
Barcelona and Atletico trail second-place Sevilla by five points.
Leaders Real Madrid, who visit relegation-threatened Mallorca on Monday, are 12 points ahead of Barcelona and Atletico.
Torres opened the scoring on Sunday by converting a 14th-minute penalty and doubled the lead seven minutes later from inside the area after a nice through ball by Ousmane Dembele.
French winger Dembele then set up the third goal for Aubameyang in the 27th, with a well-placed cross into the box from the right flank, and the fourth by Puig in the 75th.
Barcelona defender Gerard Pique, making his 600th appearance for the club, had a goal disallowed for offside in the 55th.
Xavi's team are unbeaten in 10 straight games, since a loss at Athletic Bilbao in the round of 16 of the Copa del Rey in January.
Sevilla were held again in their pursuit of Madrid with a 1-1 draw at Rayo Vallecano.
It was the second consecutive league draw for Sevilla, and sixth in their past eight league matches, as they remain unbeaten in 14 outings.
Bebe put the hosts ahead early in the second half and Thomas Delaney equalised for Sevilla in the 63rd.
Rayo, sitting in 13th place, haven't won in their last nine league matches, with seven losses in that run.
Elsewhere, Real Betis snared a hard-fought 1-0 victory over Athletic Bilbao to remain fifth, two points behind Barcelona and Atletico.
Borja Iglesias scored the 20th-minute winner for Betis, who played the final minutes with 10 men as Nabil Fekir was sent off with a straight red card in the 80th.
Martin Zubimendi scored a 70th-minute winner as Real Sociedad beat Basque Country rival Alaves 1-0 to sit sixth and in contention for the European places.
