FC Barcelona vs Espanyol, LaLiga 2025-26, Round 31 Highlights: Barcelona inch closer to La Liga title with an emphatic 4-1 win in Catalan derby

👑 Lamine Yamal MASTERCLASS!

• 1 goal
• 2 assists
• 1 pre-assist
• 21 carries
• 8 dribbles
• 9 duels won
• 7 shots
• 69 touches
• 25 passes

Complete domination—creating, driving, finishing, controlling everything.

This isn’t a performance… it’s a takeover. 🌟🔥 pic.twitter.com/LZl3ypsXjm

— FC Barcelona Fans Nation (@fcbfn_live) April 11, 2026

🚨 Official: Lamine Yamal is the MOTM of the Catalan derby. pic.twitter.com/Q4tYx86fXp

— Barça Universal (@BarcaUniversal) April 11, 2026

Bragging rights for FC Barcelona and they have now won 30 consecutive Catalan Derbies in La Liga. 

Barcelona looked the better side from the whistle as Ferran Torres drew the first blood with a header from the corner. He then extended the lead with a clinical finish from an assist by Lamine Yamal. 

However, Espanoyol fought back in the second half as Lozano's long range powerful strike gave them the hope. Espanyol looked threatening for the next 15 minutes of the game until Lamine Yamal and Marcus Rashford put the nail in the coffin for an emphatic 4-1 win for Barcelona.

The Culers are now nine points clear to Real Madrid at the top of the LaLiga points table.

EL DERBI ÉS BLAUGRANA!!! 💙❤️ pic.twitter.com/3cK4Sx8MHc

— FC Barcelona (@FCBarcelona) April 11, 2026

Yellow card for Urko.

5 minutes have been added to the full time.

Now it's a goal fest for Barcelona and Marcus Rashford is the latest to enter his name in the score sheet. 

Araujo with the interception that allowed Lamine Yamal to play a stunning pass to Frankie De Jong, who, rather than going for the goal, waited and played out a long ball for Marcus Rashford to high foot the ball into the back of the net. 

This is Rashford's sixth league goal of the season. What a stunning debut season he is having for the table toppers! 

Finally a goal for Lamine Yamal. 

It is MarC Cassado who won the ball and played out the through ball for Lamine to make the run.

Dimitrovic had to come out and make the challenge. Unfortunately for him the ball ricocheted from his leg and went forward for Lamine Yamal to tap the ball inside the goal for Barcelona's third. 

Lamine Yamal again did exceedingly well to run through the defenders and enter the final third and then make a swift cut back. However, his left-footed attempt was blocked by Romero. 

Frankie de Jong makes his return after an injury. He replaces Fermin Lopez. 

Calero gets the yellow card for a pound on Dani Olmo. 

Barcelona are on the back foot as Espanyol's consistent pressure gives them another corner. Milla with an attempted cross from the left and Pau Cubarsi deflected it for a corner for the visitors. 

Lamine Yamal first gave the ball away and Cancelo got the ball back. But, then, again he lost the ball to Lozano, whose cross nearly found Roberto Fernandez at the center of the box.

Roberto could not get a touch to the ball even with a big slide. 

From the corner the defender had jumped high in the air and got to the ball fisrt as well; however he couldn't control the header as he missed the target. 

Dani Olmo replaced goal scorer Ferran Torres. 

This time Pedri, given the chance, kept going with the ball. He was challenged inside the box and he went down quickly and looked for the penalty; however, his request was denied. 

Terrats and Milla replaced Exposito and Kike.

Cancelo kept on running with the ball from Barcelona's half and nearly scored a stunning goal with a right-footed attempt. Dmitrovic was quick enough to get down and make the save to deny his attempt. 

Visitors have looked more confident after the goal as Exposito's attempted cross was blocked by Garcia and they are now going toe to toe with the table toppers.

Horrific miss from Marcos Rashford as he defeated the offside trap and received the long ball from the deep from Garcia but couldn't just finish his job as Dmitrovic came running in to block his final attempt. 

Ruben Sanchez replaced Ngonge.

Cancelo and Rashford replaced Gavi and Fermin. 

The youngster wins another corner as he kept on dribbling on the bye line inside the box and won the final touch from the Espanyol defender to win the corner. 

GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOL de POL LOZANO!

Retallem distàncies!!! pic.twitter.com/kA1BNvJgMa

— RCD Espanyol de Barcelona (@RCDEspanyol) April 11, 2026

Another attempt from Lamine Yamal with his left foot. It went straight to the Espanyol goalkeeper; however, rather than catching the ball, he went for an unconventional punch. 

Yellow card for Lozano for a foul on Pedri.

Espanyol are back in it. A great strike from the edge of the box from Lozano. 

This is his second goal of the season as Barcelona look clumsy and unfocused with their defending. 

Exposito's cross from the right was defended, was blocked but it fell in the right place for Lozano to attempt a powerful strike from the edge of the box. 

After the check it was found that Eric Garcia was off site. 

Shift in free kick from Lamine Yamal and Eric Garcia at the far post headed the ball down for Ferran to hit the back of the net with a high boot.

The flag was up quickly but now a check is going on to check if they were offside or not. 

Gavi has been fouled at the edge of the box and Barcelona win the free kick for Barcelona. 

Important interception from the defender as Lamine Yamal was heading towards the final yard of the box with no one around him to resist the goal. 

Kike, with his right-footed shot, hit the woodwork but clearly he was offside. 

Yellow card for Casado for a foul on Edu Exposito.

Lamine Yamal shows his magic again as he nearly took four defenders down inside the box; however, his final shot was blocked by a wall of defenders. 

For Espanyol, Roberto Fernandez replaced Dolan. 

Looks like Marc Casado will replace Gerard Martin for Barcelona in the second half. 

Welcome back after the break. We'll have the second half started very soon. 

It has been a near-perfect first half for FC Barcelona.

They have been in their attacking mode from the word go. Espanyol had their one chance but Kike could not take advantage of that and find the back of the net.

Ferran, in the meantime, showcased his finishing skill as he first took advantage of the mistake from Dmitrovic and headed the ball inside for the first goal.

He then extended the lead with a clinical finish from an assist by Lamine Yamal. 

Surely more goals coming in the second half. Stay tuned. See you after the break. 

Yellow card for Eric Garcia for a foul on Urko

It all started from Martin winning the ball back at their own half and then finding Balde with a great long pass.

Balde found Pedri, and the ball moved towards Lamine Yamal via Eric Garcia.

Lamine tried to trick the defender and went deep inside the box before his attempt was deflected away for a corner. 

Three minutes have been added to the first half. 

Yellow card for Ngonge for a foul on Gavi.

Ngonge with the long free-kick which landed on the feet of Gonzalez. But a poor first touch allowed Garcia to come running and block the attempt with a slide. 

An oops moment from the Espanyol goalkeeper as he made a mistake while attempting to catch the ball from the air. It dropped perfectly for Pedri to first make some moves and then go for the goal; however the midfield maestro went over the goal with his attempt. 

Excellent save from the Espanyol goalkeeper as Fermin Lopez's long-range shot from the edge of the box was heading towards the goal. Barcelona looking for their third. 

Looks like Marcus Rashford will replace Gerard Martin and Eric Garcia will play as the centre-back. 

Fortunate for Barcelona that Martin is able to continue. 

Gerard Martin is down, holding his knee, and looks like he will not be able to continue. 

👉😁👈#LaLigaHighlights pic.twitter.com/CUdxz3vlvU

— FC Barcelona (@FCBarcelona) April 11, 2026

Yellow card for Omar and Gavi for descent.

Everyone knew what was coming: a curling in swinging free kick from Lamine Yamal, and it missed the goal by only a few inches. 

More than a few thought it was in.#LaLigaHighlights pic.twitter.com/llXyWdgWsD

— FC Barcelona (@FCBarcelona) April 11, 2026

Lozano pulled Pedri from behind and this gives Barcelona a free kick from the edge of the box, which is certainly Lamine Yamal territory on the right. 

Ferran & Lamine 😍#LaLigaHighlights pic.twitter.com/jcf6mI5xuI

— FC Barcelona (@FCBarcelona) April 11, 2026

Not sure if he was looking for the goal. A chipped attempted pass which was meant to be for Kike, nearly outfoxed Garcia between the goal as it hit the crossbar and went for a goal kick. 

It is looking so easy for the table toppers now. 

Lamine Yamal with another excellent pass and assist to find Ferran Torres. And Torres just had to find the angle to hit the back of the net. 

It would be hard for Espanyol to make a comeback from this. 

Pedri found the striker with a threading pass inside the box. Although, he was pulled down and it could have been a penalty for Barcelona, he was found offside.

A timid, weak left-footed shot from Fermin Lopez from the edge of the box goes straight to the Espanyol goalkeeper Dmitrovic.

Another counter attack that nearly led to a goal for Espanyol. A lobbed ball over the defensive line allowed Kike to make a run and receive the ball.

However, as he tried to deceive Joan Garcia with a right-footed shot, Garcia dived to his right to make the save. 

The shark has struck.

Ferran Torres from the corner jumped high in the air to win the aerial duel and with the header hit the back of the net for his first league goal since January. 

Barcelona 1 - Espanyol 0. 

Lamine Yamal, with his flamboyance, played a cheeky pass to Ronald Araujo, who came from behind and made a quick entry into the box before attempting a cross from the right. However it was deflected away for a corner. 

Amin Yamal this time made his trademark cut back on the left and then went for the curling shot; however it was blocked by Calero with his face. 

Lamine Yamal wanted to make a quick entry into the penalty box but after his attempt was blocked, it allowed Fermin Lopez to go for the goal with a long-range shot from outside the box. However, he missed the target. 

Counter attack from the visitors. Romero and Lozano made a buildup which nearly allowed Exposito to deflect the ball inside the goal. However, he was not on target.

Barcelona are enjoying possession and position from the whistle as their back line sits around the halfway mark of the pitch.

Barcelona get us underway. 

We are just minute away from the kick-off.

🎻🎻🎻🪈🪈🪈 pic.twitter.com/4UsWThwjCH

— RCD Espanyol de Barcelona (@RCDEspanyol) April 11, 2026

Just a kid loving the game ❤️ pic.twitter.com/KlNKWhRozA

— FC Barcelona (@FCBarcelona) April 11, 2026

XI: Dmitrovic, Urko, F.Calero, Cabrera, Edu Exposito, Pol Lozano, Ngonge, Kike, C. Romero, El Hilali, Dolan.

Subs: Roberto Fernández, Pol Tristán Jiménez, Miguel Rubio, Ángel Fortuño, José Salinas, Charles Pickel, Ramón Terrats, Antoniu Roca, Pere Milla, Jofre Carreras, Rubén Sánchez

XI: Joan Garcia, Araujo, Cubarsí, Gerard Martín, Balde, Pedri, Eric, Gavi, Lamine, Ferran, Fermin

Subs: Cancelo, Lewandowski, Rashford, Casadó, Roony, Olmo, De Jong, Kounde, Szczęsny, Eder Aller, Cortés, Xavi Espart

Heading to the dressing room 👣 pic.twitter.com/Cn8kTIC7KA

— FC Barcelona (@FCBarcelona) April 11, 2026

Espanyol's last win against Barcelona came 15 meetings ago, when they narrowly defeated them 1-0 in the first leg of the Copa del Rey competition in 2018. Since then, Barcelona have won 10 games against them, while four ended in a draw. 

Across all competitions, they have faced each other in 217 matches. FC Barcelona won in 129 of them while Espanyol won in 44 games. 46 games ended in a draw.

Football fans in India can watch the match live on the FanCode app and website. Unfortunately, there is no official broadcaster available for television. 

Match: FC Barcelona vs Espanyol, LaLiga 2025-26, Round 31

Date: 11 April

Time: 10 pm IST

Venue: Camp Nou, Barcelona