Madrid (AFP)

Always so lackluster, Barcelona narrowly won (2-1) Saturday at the Red Lantern Leganes for the 14th day of La Liga, and maintains its leading position ahead of Atlético, which stumbled in Grenada (1-1) .

Despite the victory, Ernesto Valverde can scratch his head: the technician blaugrana had chosen to align a very offensive 11 on Saturday, with Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez, Antoine Griezmann and Ousmane Dembele all holders for the first time ... but his team never knew how to find spaces in Leganes' very tight defense.

"Today, it was not a great match (...) In a season, there are sometimes matches that you have to know how to win without shining to win a title. had happened the same thing, "recalled Valverde after this narrow success.

Leganes opened the scoring in the 12th minute with a curling punch from Youssef En-Nesyri, who had been lodged in the skylight of Marc-André Ter Stegen, and the Catalans only found the equalizer the 53rd by a header of Luis Suarez, before sealing the victory by Arturo Vidal (79th).

- Atlético misses the mark -

It's once again a goal kick from Leo Messi, who led the goal of Suarez's header, which allowed the Catalans to return to the scoring two weeks after his hat-trick (two free-kicks and one penalty). ) against Vigo (4-1).

The goal of Vidal's victory, after a scramble in the area, is no longer built ... And the very poor playing field proposed by the Blaugranas still worries as much, four days before the reception of Borussia Dortmund League champions.

Behind the Blaugranas, Atlético could have taken the opportunity to steal the second place at Real Madrid, but the men of Diego Simeone could not win better than a draw in Granada (1-1).

The Colchoneros had a hard time finding the flaw in the Andalusian curtain, and that closed match only came in at the 60th: after a superb job by Hector Herrera, Renan Lodi, found in depth, deceived Granada goalkeeper Rui Silva (62), to open the scoring.

But the joy of the Madrilenians was short-lived: five minutes later, on a corner, German Sanchez placed a powerful header that deceived Jan Oblak (1-1, 68th).

- Joaquin still marks -

Atlético, who had recovered by defeating Espanyol Barcelona (3-1) before the truce, stomped again: he has won only one of his last five league games, and he has won more away in La Liga for two months (September 25 against Mallorca, 2-0).

The Betis Sevilla, for its part, remains in the soft underbelly of the classification (14th), but the former Lyonnais Nabil Fékir contributed greatly to the success of the Sevillans 2-1, Saturday, against a Valencia that looked like already have the lead at Chelsea's UEFA Champions League reception on Wednesday.

The French international midfielder did not score a goal, but he was the most active member of his team, multiplying the dangerous races, the strikes (27th, 50th, 85th) and the sharp passes (75th) .

At the 37th, the icon Joaquin, 38, scored against his former club from 2006 to 2011, responding to the opener of the Valencians by Maxi Gomez (62).

Betis won on the wire thanks to a majestic free kick by Sergio Canales in stoppage time (90th +3).

Later in the evening, Real Madrid, which receives Real Sociedad, will have the opportunity to join Barça at the top of La Liga.

© 2019 AFP