Barcelona ran out comfortable 3-0 winners in their rearranged clash with Osasuna to go three points clear of Real Madrid at the top of La Liga.
Ferran Torres and Dani Olmo gave Barca a commanding lead going into the break before substitute Robert Lewandowski wrapped up the points for Hansi Flick’s side in the second half.
The game at the Lluis Companys Olympic Stadium had originally been scheduled for Saturday 8 March. However, the game was postponed just minutes before kick-off due to the death of the Catalan club’s doctor, Carles Minarro Garcia.
Earlier this week, Flick had publicly bemoaned the La Liga fixture scheduling, with the game coming just days after the international break.
Ronald Araujo was a surprise addition to the bench after the Barca had previously ruled the Uruguayan out of the tie due to injury.
Raphinha, who featured for Brazil in their 4-1 drubbing at the hands of World Champions and fierce rivals Brazil on Wednesday, missed the match. But in the absence of one of their key creative sparks this season, the Catalan club were good value for the win.
🚨 FULL TIME! 🚨#BarçaOsasuna pic.twitter.com/DL0DGcrdcH
— FC Barcelona (@FCBarcelona) March 27, 2025
How the action unfolded
It was a game that the hosts largely dominated and they were ahead inside 11 minutes when some neat build-up play from Frenkie de Jong and Alejandro Balde resulted in the latter sending in a cross from the lefty that was met by Ferran.
Five minutes later it was two when Osasuna keeper Sergio Herrera took out Olmo in the area. Herrera appeared to have redeemed himself when he saved the Spaniard’s spot-kick superbly, but VAR adjudged that Jon Moncayola had encroached and the penalty was retaken.
Olmo made no mistake at the second time of asking, sending Herrera the wrong way to double Barca’s advantage.
The attacking midfielder then limped off with an injury, much to the dismay of Flick, who had this week expressed his unhappiness at the timing of this fixture – and the La Liga calendar more broadly – for its impact on player welfare.
But the Barca boss could take some comfort from the fact his side were in total control.
Shortly before half-time, Ferran went close to making it three but his sweetly struck free-kick crashed against the woodwork.
Ferran brings straight class.#BarçaOsasuna | #LaLigaHighlights pic.twitter.com/rqm7oEiAMr
— FC Barcelona (@FCBarcelona) March 27, 2025
The visitors, however, were not yet totally down and out. Immediately after the restart, they should have halved the deficit when a free-kick found the head of Jorge Herrando, but the defender could only divert his effort wide of the mark.
Just after the hour mark, Ferran was replaced by Lewandowski and it took all of 15-minutes for the Poland international to find the net and seal the points.
Barca had been defending their goal one minute, but just seconds later Lewandowski climbed to meet Pablo Torre’s cross and he made no mistake with the header.
By this point, it was all but over as a contest with the hosts content to see out the remainder of the game with relative ease.
Some fine play from Lamine Yamal nearly added a fourth late on when the teenager teed up Pau Victor but Herrera was equal to the effort.
In the end, it proved to be comfortable night’s work for Flick and co. who made the most of their game in hand to give breathing space between themselves and title rivals Real.
