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Barcelona’s Raphinha, left, celebrates after scoring his side’s third goal during a Spanish La Liga soccer match between Barcelona and Celta de Vigo at the Lluis Companys Olympic stadium in Barcelona, Spain, Saturday, April 19, 2025. (AP Photo/Joan Monfort)
(ASSOCIATED PRESS)
(ASSOCIATED PRESS)
BARCELONA, Spain (AP) — Raphinha equalized and converted an injury-time penalty to lead Barcelona from two goals down to beat Celta Vigo 4-3 in a wild La Liga game on Saturday.
The shootout victory kept Barcelona on pace for the Spanish league title as it opened up a seven-point gap over Real Madrid before the defending champion hosts Athletic Bilbao on Sunday.
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A hat trick by Borja Iglesias put Celta Vigo ahead 3-1 with just under half an hour to play. But Raphinha passed for Dani Olmo to score in the 62nd. Raphinha leveled with a header from a Lamine Yamal cross just three minutes later.
It was heading for a draw when Olmo earned a penalty that was spotted upon video review deep in stoppage time. Raphinha stepped up to drill home the spot kick.
Coach Hansi Flick ran onto the field to embrace Raphinha at the final whistle.
Thriller at the Olympic Stadium
It looked like another easy win for Barcelona when Ferran Torres fired the hosts ahead early.
But Iglesias started his spectacular performance just three minutes later, scoring on the break. Iglesias stunned the home fans again by scoring twice more in the 59th and 62nd from passes from Celta’s own area that were poorly defended by Barcelona.
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Barcelona looked done but Flick’s side quickly rallied behind Raphinha.
The Brazil forward slipped a ball through for Olmo to take Barcelona’s second goal. He then rose up to thump in Yamal’s cross with a powerful header. And with Robert Lewandowski on the bench, Raphinha beat goalkeeper Vincente Guaita in the high-pressure penalty.
Lewandowski hurt before biggest games of season?
Barcelona top scorer Lewandowski appeared to ask to be substituted while touching his left thigh before Gavi Páez replaced him in the final minutes. Lewandowski will undergo tests.
“We have to wait until tomorrow,” Flick said.
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There is no let up for Barcelona with three titles in play.
Barcelona faces Mallorca in the league on Tuesday and Real Madrid in the Copa del Rey final next weekend. Four days after that it will start its Champions League semifinal against Inter Milan.
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AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer
