Barcelona on the brink of defending La Liga title after beating Getafe

Barcelona move 11 points clear of Real Madrid in the La Liga title race with five games to play.Fermin Lopez and Marcus Rashford’s goals took Barcelona to the brink of the La Liga title with a 2-0 win at Getafe.The defending champions moved 11 points clear of second-place Real Madrid, who drew at Real Betis on Friday to dent their hopes of finishing the season with a trophy.Recommended Stories list of 4 itemslist 1 of 4Italy officials slam ‘shameful’ idea of taking Iran’s place at World Cuplist 2 of 4Brazil and Chelsea star Estevao’s World Cup hopes in doubt after injurylist 3 of 4Turkiye’s Istanbul Park to host F1 for at least five years from 2027list 4 of 4LeBron stars as Lakers down Rockets in overtime to take 3-0 series leadend of listHansi Flick’s side can win their second consecutive Spanish title if they overcome Osasuna next weekend and Real Madrid fail to beat Espanyol.“It’s not done, we have five more games, and we’re only focused on the next one,” Flick told reporters.“We will celebrate when it’s time, but not now.”Barcelona were without vital injured wingers Lamine Yamal and Raphinha, but still did enough to see off Jose Bordalas’s tricky side, sixth, in the Madrid suburbs.“We were aware of what was going to happen here, we were going to have few chances, and I think we played well, competing well defensively and putting away the chances we had,” Lopez told Movistar.“We know we’ve got a big advantage [in the title race], but even so, we can’t relax, I know it’s a cliche, but it’s the truth.”Getafe set out to disrupt Barcelona’s rhythm with small fouls, and Barca struggled to create many clear opportunities.Flick opted for Swedish winger Roony Bardghji in place of Yamal and chose Lopez on the left over Rashford.Dani Olmo made the first with a neat dribble, speeding into Getafe territory, but pulled his shot wide of the far post.Eventually, the hosts made the breakthrough just before half-time when Pedri played in Lopez.Wearing a protective mask after hurting his face in a collision with Atletico Madrid goalkeeper Juan Musso during Barcelona’s Champions League quarterfinal elimination last week, Lopez stayed calm to slot home.