Barcelona returned to the top of La Liga for the first time since December with a thrilling victory over Rayo Vallecano.
After both capital teams lost points in 1-1 games on Saturday, Barca overtook championship rivals Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid with a penalty kick in the first half thanks to Robert Lewandowski.
After the hosts were given a controversial penalty after a video assistant referee (VAR) review, the Poland striker rolled his penalty kick in off the post for his 20th league goal of the season.
Inigo Martinez came never close to reaching the ball before goalkeeper Augusto Batalla, but Rayo midfielder Pathe Ciss was penalized for bringing him down in the box.
After a similar occurrence, in which Ciss went to ground, the visitors were furious when they were not given a penalty.
Jorge de Frutos grabbed a through pass and finished past Wojciech Szczesny, giving Rayo the impression that they had equalized. However, striker Randy Nteka, who was standing offside, was deemed to have obstructed Martinez’s attempt to make a tackle.
Barcelona was lucky not to give up a late equalizer when De Frutos headed over after a Rayo counterattack, despite missing multiple chances to score in the second half.
With 14 games remaining, Hansi Flick’s team leads the table with 51 points, one point ahead of Atletico and ahead of Real Madrid on goal differential.
