Barcelona closed the gap on La Liga leaders Real Madrid to four points, but were reliant on Robert Lewandowski’s second-half goal to beat struggling Alavés.

The hosts dominated possession with Alavés, who sit in 18th place, happy to sit back and defend. Barça almost scored near the half-hour mark when Manu Sánchez’s attempt to clear Raphinha’s cross went to Lewandowski, but the Polish striker put his shot wide.

Lewandowski then headed wide from Yamal’s cross in the 57th minute, but the two combined again four minutes later to put Barcelona ahead. Pedri’s lofted ball from the left reached Yamal, whose cross took a deflection off Nahuel Tenaglia and found Lewandowski, who volleyed home from close range.

The Alavés keeper, Jesus Owono stopped Yamal from doubling Barca’s lead, tipping away his shot to keep the visitors in the game. Alavés then pushed for an unlikely equaliser, with Toni Martínez missing their best chance in the 87th minute when his attempt from Santiago Mourino’s cross went wide.

“Before the game we knew we had to win. We are a few points behind,” Lewandowski, the Spanish top flight’s leading scorer, said after netting his 18th goal of the campaign. “We can’t always win by three, four or five goals. We played with patience and vigilance and in the end we scored one more goal than the opponent.”

The match was held up for several minutes when Gavi and Tomas Conechny clashed heads during an aerial challenge. Both players were substituted after receiving on-field treatment. “It’s the doctor’s decision. [Gavi] couldn’t continue playing and we have to respect that,” the Barcelona coach, Hansi Flick, said afterwards.

Randal Kolo Muani’s double helped Juventus to a comeback 4-1 home win over lowly Empoli in Serie A on Sunday that lifted them into the top four.

The visitors, who are currently 17th in the table, took a shock lead after four minutes through defender Mattia De Sciglio, on loan from Juve, who nodded home Liam Henderson’s corner. Empoli were awarded a penalty in the 15th minute, but the referee overturned his decision after a VAR check revealed an attacking handball.

Juventus, who had won one of their last eight games in all competitions, ended the opening 45 minutes with only one shot on target, but increased their tempo after the break. The Empoli goalkeeper, Devis Vásquez, did well to deny Nicolás González and Teun Koopmeiners before Kolo Muani equalised from close range.

The PSG loanee struck just past the hour mark, tucking the ball inside the near post after he latched onto a long pass from Koopmeiners. Kolo Muani then fortuitously
put Juve ahead when a long-range shot by Timothy Weah ricocheted off him and flew into the bottom corner of the net.

Substitute Dusan Vlahovic made it 3-1 in the 90th minute with a powerful shot under the bar after a solo run. Another replacement, Francisco Conceição, completed the rout late on following a brilliant long pass from Khéphren Thuram. Empoli were left with 10 men in the 84th minute when Maleh was handed a second yellow card.