The China Mail - Barca battle to keep Liga lead as Atletico apply pressure

After Atletico Madrid beat Valencia 3-0 to temporarily take pole position, the Catalans replaced them with a narrow victory on the road and sit one point ahead of the Rojiblancos.

Substitute Dani Olmo produced a fine finish before Ferran Torres drilled home to settle the game and earn Barca revenge for a shock home defeat by Las Palmas earlier in the season.

Champions Real Madrid, third, can pull level on points with Barcelona if they beat Girona at home on Saturday.

"We scored two goals, we took three points and the three-and-a-half hour flight back is much better with these three points," Barca coach Flick told reporters.

"(Olmo) scored the first goal and this goal was very important for us.

"In the first half we missed 5-10 percent, maybe more (from our best level)... the players are also not happy with the performance but they are happy with the three points."

Barca were inaccurate in attack in a tight first half, unable to find the quality they needed to unpick the hosts' defence.

Flick took action at the break and brought on playmaker Olmo in place of the quiet Fermin Lopez.

The Spain international's first contribution was a sloppy pass that flew out of play but he quickly found his focus.

Lamine Yamal skipped forward and slipped the ball to Olmo, who showed good footwork to find space in the box and finish.

Olmo has not featured a great deal since the club's financial problems forced him to be unregistered at the start of the year, until Spain's national sports council granted a temporary measure which allowed him to play again.

The former RB Leipzig star missed some games with a calf strain in January.

"We don't feel pressure, we want to be at the top, we know (winning the league) is up to us," Olmo told Movistar.

"Today we took three important points, so we're going home happy."

Las Palmas appealed for a penalty when a shot struck the back of Eric Garcia's arm in the box but VAR showed there was an offside in the build-up.

Eight minutes of stoppage time were added on which gave Las Palmas heart but instead it was Barcelona who struck.

A loose pass at the back was picked up by Raphinha, who fed Torres to rifle past Jasper Cillessen and seal Barcelona's win.

Defeat leaves Las Palmas 17th, level on points with Valencia, 18th, in the relegation zone.

- Accurate Alvarez -

Julian Alvarez bagged a brace as Atletico were able to climb to the top of the pile for a couple of hours.

The Argentina international reached nine league goals for the season with his first half double before Angel Correa steered home the third late on.

"I'm very happy, it was important to win here to stay in the title fight," Alvarez told Movistar.

"It wasn't an easy game, we knew it, they'd been doing well at home, so we had to go for it and getting three points is very good.

"We're still in the fight... there are still a lot of games to go and we have to go slowly, with humility and hard work like always."

Valencia had won three in a row at home but defeat leaves them embedded in a fierce relegation battle.

Atletico started strongly and former Manchester City striker Alvarez opened the scoring in the 12th minute.

Samuel Lino hit the bar after receiving Antoine Griezmann's delicious cross, and Alvarez was on hand to fire home after the resulting scramble in the box.

Griezmann directly created Alvarez's second goal with another fine cross which the forward nodded home.

Valencia came out far stronger in the second half and began to test Atletico goalkeeper Jan Oblak, although the visitors had enough resolve to keep Los Che at bay.

Atletico extended their lead in the final stages when substitutes Conor Gallagher and Correa combined on the counter, with the latter stroking home.

Diego Simeone's side next face Barcelona in the Copa del Rey semi-finals on Tuesday.

Villarreal, fifth, kept the pressure on the top four with a hard-fought 1-0 win at Rayo Vallecano, sixth.

R.Lin--ThChM