Ferran Torres’ strike propelled Barcelona to recover from a recent slump to edge Atletico Madrid 1-0, moving them closer to winning their first La Liga title since 2019.

Earlier, having contested two straight goalless matches, Barca saw the defending champions Real Madrid cut into their lead with a victory over Celta Vigo. However, a first-half strike from Torres sealed the deal for the home side.

Torres’s brilliant low strike brought Barca back on the winning track and also restored their advantage to 11 points with eight games remaining.

Diego Simeone’s Atletico, being in red-hot form, failed to keep the home side silent as Torres stroked home from the edge of the box in the 44th minute to secure victory for Xavi Hernandez’s side.

Both sides then had multiple golden opportunities to score in the second half but Barcelona held on to their lead to script Atletico Madrid’s first defeat since the two teams clashed in January.

The hosts produced their 23rd clean sheet of the season in La Liga, with Marc-Andre ter Stegen making a brilliant stop to deny Antoine Griezmann an equaliser.

In another Sunday La Liga fixture, 13th-ranked Sevilla, fresh from thumping Manchester United in the Europa League, carried on their brilliant form to snatch a late winner and edged sixth-placed Villarreal 2-1 with Youssef En-Nesyri heading home in stoppage time.

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