The Japan Times - Barcelona on verge of La Liga title defence with win at Osasuna

The Catalan giants moved 14 points clear of second-placed Real Madrid and will be crowned champions if their rivals drop points at Espanyol on Sunday.

Lewandowski headed home after 81 minutes to break the deadlock, with Torres slotting in a second with four minutes to go.

Osasuna pulled one back through Raul Garcia late on but Barca secured the three points to close in on a second consecutive league title and a 29th in the club's history.

If Real Madrid do defeat Espanyol, then Barcelona's next opportunity to clinch the title will be in the Clasico against their arch-rivals on May 10.

Flick said he would try and get his team to focus on this game, rather than the Clasico next weekend, but Barca's first half was that of a team perched on a comfortable cushion and the feeling of having little at stake.

Without the injured Lamine Yamal, Barca lose a lot of their dynamism, and although they had a lot of the ball in the first half they found it hard to break down Osasuna to create clear chances.

Roony Bardghji, on the right in place of the Spain international, drew a simple save from Osasuna stopper Sergio Herrera with a long-range effort.

Osasuna had the best opening in the first half, forged by Croatian striker Ante Budimir all on his own, showing strength to hold off two defenders before prodding against the post.

Barcelona had a slightly higher tempo in the second half and Dani Olmo might have sent them ahead, but he bundled over from close range.

Flick turned to his bench, making a triple change including sending on winger Marcus Rashford to play on the right flank.

The Manchester United forward, on loan at Barca, curled narrowly over and offered a welcome injection of speed.

Rashford created the opener with a perfect cross for Lewandowski, who took advantage of slack marking to find space and power a header home.

Torres, another substitute, produced a clinical finish to double Barca's lead, but they were made to sweat through eight minutes of stoppage time after Garcia headed home for the hosts when left free in the box.

The Catalans battled hard, thumping balls to safety as Osasuna turned the screw, but were eventually able to celebrate a 10th consecutive league win -- and now they wait.

M.Saito--JT