Yamal's Hat-Trick Fuels Barcelona's Lead as La Liga Race Heats Up

Barcelona have 64 points from 21 wins in 26 matches with four defeats and a draw, and are leading Real Madrid, who have 60 points from 25 matches with 19 wins, three losses, and as many draws.

Atletico Madrid are a further nine points behind in third place, with 15 wins, five losses and six draws, on better goal difference than Villarreal, who have 51 points from 16 wins, seven losses and three draws.

As the race for the title heats up, here are some things we learned in Spain this weekend:

1. Lamine Yamal does it again

FC Barcelona's game at home to Villarreal on Saturday could have been a banana skin for the La Liga leaders against a rival that had won on three of its last four visits to Barcelona, and with players perfectly equipped to give problems to Barcelona's high defensive line, reports Xinhua.

However, a magnificent display from Lamine Yamal led Barcelona to a convincing 4-1 win in which the 18-year-old scored a brilliant hat-trick.

Yamal commented afterwards that when he first broke into the Barcelona first team, he hadn't enjoyed playing football, but that now he was playing with a smile on his face. If Lamine Yamal is happy, Barcelona's rivals should be very worried.

2. Seville derby entertains once again

Sevilla coach Matias Almeyda served the second game of his seven-match touchline ban in his side's 2-2 draw away to Betis. Not only was Almeyda not in the Sevilla dugout in the Estadio de la Cartuja, but he also wasn't even on the ground, forced to watch from the team bus after Betis alleged security issues to stop him from watching from a box in the stands.

He will have been pleased by his side's commitment, because after being second best in the first half, Sevilla fought back from 2-0 down against a more talented Betis to take a draw.

Sevilla are limited in their attacking play, and Almeyda has been under pressure, but it's hard to see anyone doing a better job than the Argentine -- even from the team bus.

3. The ugly side of football rears its head again

Elche took a vital point from their 2-2 draw at home to Espanyol with Rafa Mir netting a late penalty, but the Elche forward was mentioned in the referee's post-game report for an alleged racist comment towards Espanyol defender Omar El-Hilali, telling the player whose parents are from Morocco that he "came to Spain in a dinghy."

The allegations of racism are not the only problem for Mir, who is on bail while awaiting trial for a case of sexual assault that dates back to September 2024. The player is at Elche on loan from Sevilla, but given his off-the-pitch record, it's hard to see who would want him in their squad next season.

4. Demichelis sees the task ahead of him

New Mallorca coach Martin Demichelis watched the 1-0 defeat at home to Real Sociedad on Saturday evening from the stands of the Son Moix Stadium, and the Argentine would be forgiven for reflecting on the size of the task ahead of him if Mallorca is to avoid relegation.

The statistics say a lot about Saturday's game with Mallorca, only managing one shot on target against a rival that didn't have to do anything special to take all three points, and with even Mallorca's top-scorer ,Vedat Muriqi ,looking jaded.

Several of Mallorca's next matches are against direct rivals to avoid relegation, so Demichelis needs to have an immediate impact.

- IANS