Akin Ayomide
Raphinha hit a brace to give Barcelona a narrow 2-0 win over Osasuna on Saturday and take them seven points clear at the top of La Liga.
The Brazilian winger broke the deadlock after 70 minutes with a fizzing strike from the edge of the box to earn Barca their seventh-straight top flight win.
Second place Real Madrid visit Alaves on Sunday, aiming to cut the gap on the champions back down to four points.
Barca lacked their usual sparkle but ground out their victory, keeping a first clean sheet in six matches across all competitions.
They also recorded a fifth victory in five games at their partially reopened Camp Nou home.
“(The win) has a lot of merit, they were well organised, it was hard to find a way through. With patience and a lot of possession, we finally did it,” Barca defender Gerard Martin told Movistar.
“A clean sheet gives stability to the team and then the goals, they always come.”
Ferran Torres, chosen to start over Robert Lewandowski after his hat-trick last weekend against Real Betis, might have sent Barca ahead early on but hooked high over the bar from Lamine Yamal’s dangerous cross.
At the other end, Ante Budimir’s low effort was fielded comfortably by Joan Garcia, with Osasuna looking to hit Barca on the counter.
Yamal had a couple of drives beaten away in a mostly frustrating first-half for both the teenager and for Barca.
Torres headed home from Marcus Rashford’s cross but the goal was disallowed for an offside in the build-up.
The Spain international sent an acrobatic overhead effort inches wide, and Garcia denied Budimir with another fine save before the break.
Osasuna goalkeeper Sergio Herrera tipped a Rashford free-kick to safety early in the second half as Barca sought to extend their winning run.
They were having trouble breaking Osasuna down but found a way through when the excellent Pedri roamed forward and found Raphinha on the edge of the box to slam a shot into the bottom right corner.
Osasuna’s Jorge Herrando, who was sent off on his debut for the club at the old Camp Nou in 2023, had a strike ruled out after Alejandro Catena collided with Barca goalkeeper Garcia.
Moments later, Raphinha tapped home at the back post after Alejandro Catena deflected Jules Kounde’s cross into the Brazilian’s path with four minutes remaining.
Raphinha, who started the match out of position in a central attacking midfield role, was one of the club’s key players last season as they won a domestic treble and, after a spell out injured, has made an impact on his return.
“We’ve got a lot of good players and Rapha, or whoever else plays inside, in the end they give us a lot of solutions in that position,” added Martin.