Real Madrid made Barcelona wait for the LaLiga title with a 2-0 win away against Espanyol that made sure the race will run for at least one more week.

Barca's win over Osasuna on Saturday meant victory for Madrid was vital if Hansi Flick's side were to be denied being crowned champions ahead of next week's meeting between the teams at the Camp Nou.

Vinícius Júnior scored both goals in the second half to cut the leaders' advantage to 11 points with four games remaining.

It will count for nothing though if Barcelona, who are now within touching distance of a 29th title, claim at least a draw at home to their rivals on May 10.

Defeat for Espanyol effectively ended their slim hopes of qualifying for Europe next season.

Following a strong start to the campaign, their form has collapsed since the new year and they are yet to post a win in 2026, drawing six and losing 10 of their 16 games.

Madrid took full advantage of their hosts' malaise but it took until after half-time to make their mark.

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After eight minutes, Trent Alexander-Arnold sent over a cross to Vinícius at the far post. The Brazilian's effort deflected off Omar El Hilali and struck the post with goalkeeper Marko Dmitrovic beaten.

The visitors were forced into an early change when Fran García came on to replace the injured Ferland Mendy at left-back.

El Hilali was then shown a red card for a foul from behind on Vinícius. The referee was sent to the VAR screen and downgraded the dismissal to a yellow.

Madrid goalkeeper Andrii Lunin to keep the score level when he made a brilliant reflex save to keep out Leandro Cabrera's close-range header from a corner with the final play of the first half.

At that stage, things were looking promising for Barcelona to celebrate the title without kicking another ball.

A goal arrived finally in the 55th minute. Vinícius played a one-two with Gonzalo García to make space inside the box and blasted into the bottom corner for his 14th league goal of the season.

The win was sealed 11 minutes later when Jude Bellingham picked out the Brazilian inside the box with a backheel that left his teammate with the straightforward task of beating Dmitrovic to make it 2-0.

It is, however likely only to delay the inevitable with Barcelona on the brink of retaining their title.

Information from PA was used in this recap.