Barcelona takes advantage of Real Madrid’s stumble to take an 8-point lead in La Liga.

Alba, Gavi, and Raphinha each scored in the second half to give Barcelona its fifth straight league victory. Barcelona’s last defeat came in a 1-1 league draw against Espanyol last year.
Sevilla, which had a surprisingly poor start to the season, was coming off two straight league wins that had helped it pull away from the relegation zone. With the loss, it fell to 16th place, two points below the drop zone.
Sevilla has not won in 15 league games against Barcelona, and has not won in 20 consecutive visits to the Catalan club. Barcelona captain Sergio Busquets had to be replaced with an apparent ankle sprain eight minutes into the match at Camp Nou.
MADRID FAILS
Marco Asensio missed a penalty kick in Madrid’s last match before travelling to Morocco to compete in the Club World Cup. Due to injuries, Madrid rested some players ahead of the Club World Cup.
We expected a very difficult match, Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti said. We had opportunities but were unable to capitalize on them.
Ancelotti was unable to rely on several injured starters, including striker Karim Benzema, defender u00c9der Milito, and goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois, who was dropped at the last minute after injuring himself during a warmup. Toni Kroos and Luka Modric, who came on in the second half, were also rested by Ancelotti.
After being fouled by Madrid forward Vincius Jnior, Asensio had a penalty kick saved by Mallorca goalkeeper Pedrag Rajkovic in the 60th minute. Antonio Ru00fcdiger’s header went narrowly wide deep into stoppage time as Madrid’s final chance.
Nacho Fernu00e1ndez, who was replacing Milito in defence, scored an own goal for the hosts. Nacho attempted a high cross and deflected the ball into his own net, beating goalkeeper Andriy Lunin, who took over for Courtois.
I hit the ball with my head, but it went into the top corner, Nacho explained. It was a difficult game against a good team. It’s a shame we let three points slip away.
Madrid had just beaten Valencia after being held by Real Sociedad. On Wednesday, it will face Egyptian club Al Ahly in the Club World Cup semifinals. Mallorca’s second win in three league games, and their fourth in a row at home. It finished in the middle of the table with 28 points from 20 games.
It’s a good result that moves us away from the relegation zone, Mallorca coach Javier Aguirre said. But there are still a lot of matches left, so we can’t relax. Vincius received a yellow card and will miss Madrid’s next league game against last-place Elche.
STALLS OF SOCIEDAD
Real Sociedad blew a three-point lead over Real Madrid by losing 1-0 at home to Valladolid.
It was the Basque Country club’s third consecutive loss after a nine-game winning streak in all competitions. Sociedad was coming off a 1-0 loss to Barcelona in the Copa del Rey quarterfinals and a 0-0 draw at Real Madrid in the league.
Cyle Larin, a newly signed Canadian forward, scored the winner in the second half for 13th-place Valladolid, which has won two in a row after five straight losses in all competitions.
SUFFERING VALENCIA
Valencia’s woes continued with a 1-0 defeat at Girona, extending the club’s losing streak to five games in all competitions. Valencia has only won one of its last 12 league games and is just above the relegation zone. Girona has risen to 11th place.