Barcelona wins 11th straight game, opens 11-point lead in Spain

Barcelona keeps on winning at the top of the Spanish league and moving further away from Real MadridBarcelona beat Villarreal 10 on the road on Sunday to extend its winning streak to 11 matches in all competitions and its lead over secondplace Madrid to 11 pointsMadrid which won the Club World Cup on Saturday has played a game less than BarcelonaThere is nothing decided yet there is still a lot of league left Barcelona coach Xavi saidBut we are happy because we are on a great run doing things wellIt was the 16th clean sheet for Barcelona in 21 league matches this seasonPedri scored in the 18th minute for Barcelona whose 11 draw against Espanyol in the league on December 31 was the last time it failed to win The 11game streak has included beating Real Betis on penalties in the Spanish Super Cup and an extratime victory in the Copa del Rey against IntercityIt was the third straight loss for eighthplace Villarreal which has only one win in its last six matches in all competitions Its previous defeat was at lastplace Elche which had been winless in the leagueVillarreal started the game without injured striker Gerard Moreno and it lost midfielder Francis Coquelin with a knee injury in the first half The Frenchman had to be carried off the field on a stretcherAlso readBarcelona exploits Madrids stumble to open 8point leadBarcelona was playing without captain Sergio Busquets and winger Ousmane Dembeacuteleacute because of injuries Xavi used midfielder Frenkie de Jong and forward Raphinha in their placesDefender Marcos Alonso started on the bench a few days after the death of his father former Barcelona player Marcos AlonsoBarcelona next hosts Manchester United in the Europa League on ThursdayDEPAY OBLAK LEAD ATLETICOMemphis Depay scored in the 88th minute for his first goal since joining from Barcelona as 10man Atletico Madrid won 10 at Celta Vigo to stay fourth in the final Champions League spotAtletico needed a good performance from goalkeeper Jan Oblak and some help from the woodwork after defender Stefan Savic was sent off in the 70thAtletico opened a fourpoint gap to fifthplace Betis with its third win in four league matches Celta which was coming off two straight wins dropped to 14thIt was a tough match we knew Celta was going through a good moment Atletico coach Diego Simeone saidIn the end Oblak helped us again and Memphis came through in a very important match for usDepay scored from inside the area for his first goal with Atletico since arriving in a transfer from Barcelona in JanuaryOblak made two outstanding stops after Savic was sent off including a reflex save on the goal line in the 85thVeteran Celta striker Iago Aspas hit the crossbar from the free kick that came after Savics red card for stopping a breakawayMidfielder Koke Resurreccioacuten made his 402nd appearance with Atletico in the league surpassing the club mark by former midfielder Adelardo RodriacuteguezGETAFE RECOVERSSecondtolast Getafe earned a hardfought 11 draw against Rayo Vallecano thanks to a 77thminute equalizer by Enes Unal and Rayo striker Rauacutel de Tomaacutes failing to score from the penalty spot in the 87th only four minutes after entering the matchGetafe winless in seven consecutive matches in all competitions played with 10 men from the 54th after Carles Alentildeaacute was sent off with a second yellow cardGetafe striker Borja Mayoral also failed to score with a penalty kick shortly before Alentildea was sent offRayo which had won three of its last four league matches dropped to sixth place with the away drawOSASUNA HELD AGAINOsasunas winless streak in the league reached four matches after a 00 draw at 13thplace Valladolid which was coming off two straight victories following five consecutive losses in all competitionsOsasuna which stayed ninth has only one win in its last eight league matchesOn Monday thirdplace Real Sociedad visits relegationthreatened Espanyol looking to end a threegame winless streak and move closer to secondplace MadridThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever