La Liga: Barca surrender two points to Atletico after Huesca draw, Espanyol defeat Alaves 2-1 on home soil
CGTN
["europe"]
Barcelona's 11-point advantage over Atletico Madrid became nine on Saturday as Lionel Messi was left out of their goalless draw with Huesca.
With Barca's focus clearly on Manchester United, Messi and Pique were among 10 players rested for the stalemate at El Alcoraz as Coach Ernesto Valverde prioritized Tuesday's second leg and progressed to the Champions League semifinals.
The price was two points dropped and Atletico advanced, beating Celta Vigo 2-0 thanks to a thundering Antoine Griezmann free-kick and a cool finish from Alvaro Morata.
Barcelona's huge advantage at the top of La Liga has afforded them the luxury of prioritizing success in Europe, the only issue perhaps for Valverde the matter of maintaining momentum.
Still bottom of the table in their first-ever season in Spain's top flight, Huesca now sit five adrift of safety, albeit having played a game more than those immediately above them. Their survival bid remains unlikely but alive.
In another match on Saturday, Espanyol sealed a 2-1 win over visitors Alaves at the RCDE Stadium in Barcelona after Adria Pedrosa scored the opening goal for the hosts at the 18th minute and Alaves' Laguardia had an own goal at the 46th.
Chinese player Wu Lei, who was changed for Sergio Garcia at the 63rd minute, has been included in Espanyol's start line-up for consistent three games. So far, Wu has contributed one goal at 11 matches he has played with Espanyol in this season.
Espanyol had two consecutive wins which lifted them to the 10th spot with 41 points in the league.
(With input from AFP)