MADRID (AP) — Robert Lewandowski came to the rescue of Barcelona, scoring twice as the Catalan club rallied to beat Alaves and keep pace with Real Madrid and Girona in the Spanish league.
The 2-1 home victory on Sunday moved Barcelona back within two points of second-place Madrid, which routed Valencia 5-1 on Saturday. Barcelona is four points behind fellow Catalan club Girona, the surprise leader that came from behind to win 2-1 at Rayo Vallecano, also on Saturday.
Alaves took the lead in a breakaway one minute into the match in Montjuic, but Lewandowski helped the hosts rebound with a header in the 53th and a penalty kick in the 78th.
Lewandowski, who was sidelined recently with an injury, hadn't scored in six matches since getting a double in the 3-2 win against Celta Vigo in September.
“We played a bit better, but we are not going through our best moment,” Barcelona coach Xavi said. “We came through in a match that became difficult. The international break will be good for us so we can regroup. We will improve, I'm certain.”
Barcelona was coming off a 1-0 loss at Shakhtar Donetsk in the group stage of the Champions League. Two rounds ago it lost 2-1 to Madrid at home in the first “clasico” of the season in the Spanish league. Barcelona then needed a stoppage-time goal to win at Real Sociedad last weekend.
Barcelona extended its unbeaten run against Alaves in the league to 12 league games, with 10 wins and two draws.
Alaves, sitting in 14th place, beat last-place Almeria in the previous round to end a seven-game winless streak in the league.
Barcelona remained without injured midfielders Frenkie de Jong and Sergi Roberto, and Xavi also couldn’t count on the suspended Gavi.
Pedri, who was coming off an injury, was back in the starting lineup after coming off the bench in the last two matches. Teenager Lamine Yamal also started after being on the bench in the last four matches.
Later Sunday, 15th-place Sevilla hosted seventh-place Real Betis in the Seville derby. Sevilla is winless in five straight league games, with four draws in its last four matches. Manuel Pellegrini’s Betis has won five in a row in all competitions, including two in a row in the Spanish league.
Fourth-place Atletico Madrid also later hosts 13th-place Villarreal. Atletico is unbeaten in 11 games in all competitions, with nine wins and two draws. It is coming off a 6-0 rout of Celtic at home in the group stage of the Champions League.
___
AP soccer: apnews.com/hub/soccer
