Lewandowski extends scoring streak as Barcelona routs Sevilla ahead of 'clasico' against Real Madrid

MADRID (AP) — Robert Lewandowski scored two more goals to extend his league-leading tally to 12 and Barcelona routed Sevilla 5-1 to open a three-point gap on Real Madrid ahead of next weekend's "clasico."

Pedri and Pablo Torre also scored Sunday for the Catalan club, which restored its lead of La Liga a day after second-place Madrid won 2-1 at Celta Vigo.

Barcelona midfielder Gavi came off the bench to replace Pedri in the 83rd minute, making his return to action nearly a year after a serious knee injury.

“I had been dreaming about this moment for several months,” Gavi said. “It's tough to watch from the outside. I have to enjoy every moment. I feel very lucky to be here today.”

Barcelona will play Madrid on Saturday at the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium. Both teams have Champions League matches midweek — Madrid hosts Borussia Dortmund on Tuesday and Barcelona hosts Bayern Munich on Wednesday.

“This was an important win considering the matches that we have ahead,” Pedri said. “We had to leave with a good feeling and the three points.”

Lewandowski scored twice in the first half against the visitors, first by converting a 24th-minute penalty kick and then by finding the net from close range in the 39th.

The Poland striker was coming off a hat trick at Alaves in the previous league round, and had scored twice in the team's win over Young Boys in the Champions League. He has 14 goals in 11 matches in all competitions this season.

Lewandowski, who received a standing ovation when he was substituted in the 65th, nearly got his hat track against Sevilla in a one-on-one situation in the first half.

Pedri scored with a curling shot from outside the area in the 28th and Torre added to the lead from inside the area in the 82nd and with a free kick in the 88th. Raphinha had a 49th-minute goal disallowed for offside.

Barcelona has outscored its league opponents 33-10 this season.

Sevilla, which had no attempts on target in the first half, scored its lone goal in the 87th with 19-year-old substitute Stanis Idumbo.

Barcelona also saw Lamine Yamal return from a muscle strain that saw him leave Spain's squad during the international break.

Barcelona defender Eric García hurt a muscle in the team's warmup and did not play.

Fewer fans than normal watched Atletico Madrid beat Leganes 3-1 in a match played in a partially closed stadium because of recent fan trouble.

Alexander Sorloth scored twice and Antoine Griezmann once after the visitors took the lead in the first half at the Metropolitano stadium, which had an empty fan section behind one of the goals as punishment after Atletico fans threw objects on the field during a city derby against Real Madrid last month.

The section is where the club's more radical supporters usually gather.

Atletico had been originally ordered to close the section for three matches but appealed the decision and the punishment was reduced to a single match. The derby was interrupted for more than 15 minutes after fans threw the objects near Madrid goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois in a game that ended 1-1.

Sunday's victory, which ended Atletico's three match winless streak in all competitions, moved Diego Simeone's team to third place in the league. It trails Barcelona by seven points.

Atletico midfielder Pablo Barrios and defender Clément Lenglet both got injured.

Griezmann was sent off late in the game after he slid into an opponent, but the red card was changed to a yellow after video review.

Villarreal is in fourth place after conceding an 87th-minute equalizer in a 1-1 draw against Getafe. Santiago Comesaña had put the hosts ahead in the 44th.

Mallorca defeated visiting Rayo Vallecano 1-0 with a goal by Vedat Muriqi in the 75th. It was the fourth win in five matches for Mallorca, which moved to sixth place in the standings. Rayo stayed ninth.

AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer

Barcelona's Raphinha kicks the ball during a Spanish La Liga soccer match between Barcelona and Sevilla at the Olimpic Lluis Companys stadium in Barcelona, Spain, Sunday, Oct. 20, 2024. (AP Photo/Joan Monfort)

Barcelona's Pedri celebrates after scoring his side's second goal during a Spanish La Liga soccer match between Barcelona and Sevilla at the Olimpic Lluis Companys stadium in Barcelona, Spain, Sunday, Oct. 20, 2024. (AP Photo/Joan Monfort)

Barcelona's Pedri, center, celebrates with teammates after scoring his side's second goal during a Spanish La Liga soccer match between Barcelona and Sevilla at the Olimpic Lluis Companys stadium in Barcelona, Spain, Sunday, Oct. 20, 2024. (AP Photo/Joan Monfort)

Barcelona's Pedri, center, celebrates with teammates after scoring his side's second goal during a Spanish La Liga soccer match between Barcelona and Sevilla at the Olimpic Lluis Companys stadium in Barcelona, Spain, Sunday, Oct. 20, 2024. (AP Photo/Joan Monfort)

Barcelona's Robert Lewandowski celebrates with teammates after scoring the opening goal from the penalty spot during a Spanish La Liga soccer match between Barcelona and Sevilla at the Olimpic Lluis Companys stadium in Barcelona, Spain, Sunday, Oct. 20, 2024. (AP Photo/Joan Monfort)

Barcelona's Robert Lewandowski, left, celebrates with teammates after scoring the opening goal from the penalty spot during a Spanish La Liga soccer match between Barcelona and Sevilla at the Olimpic Lluis Companys stadium in Barcelona, Spain, Sunday, Oct. 20, 2024. (AP Photo/Joan Monfort)

Barcelona's Robert Lewandowski, left, celebrates with teammates after scoring the opening goal from the penalty spot during a Spanish La Liga soccer match between Barcelona and Sevilla at the Olimpic Lluis Companys stadium in Barcelona, Spain, Sunday, Oct. 20, 2024. (AP Photo/Joan Monfort)

Barcelona's Robert Lewandowski celebrates after scoring the opening goal from the penalty spot during a Spanish La Liga soccer match between Barcelona and Sevilla at the Olimpic Lluis Companys stadium in Barcelona, Spain, Sunday, Oct. 20, 2024. (AP Photo/Joan Monfort)

ST. LOUIS (AP) — World champions Ilia Malinin and the ice dance duo of Madison Chock and Evan Bates will anchor one of the strongest U.S. Figure Skating teams in history when they head to Italy for the Milan Cortina Olympics in less than a month.

Malinin, fresh off his fourth straight national title, will be the prohibitive favorite to follow in the footsteps of Nathan Chen by delivering another men's gold medal for the American squad when he steps on the ice at the Milano Ice Skating Arena.

Chock and Bates, who won their record-setting seventh U.S. title Saturday night, also will be among the Olympic favorites, as will world champion Alysa Liu and women's teammate Amber Glenn, fresh off her third consecutive national title.

U.S. Figure Skating announced its full squad of 16 athletes for the Winter Games during a made-for-TV celebration Sunday.

"I'm just so excited for the Olympic spirit, the Olympic environment," Malinin said. “Hopefully go for that Olympic gold.”

Malinin will be joined on the men's side by Andrew Torgashev, the all-or-nothing 24-year-old from Coral Springs, Florida, and Maxim Naumov, the 24-year-old from Simsbury, Connecticut, who fulfilled the hopes of his late parents by making the Olympic team.

Vadim Naumov and Evgenia Shishkova were returning from a talent camp in Kansas when their American Airlines flight collided with a military helicopter and crashed into the icy Potomac River in January 2025. One of the last conversations they had with their son was about what it would take for him to follow in their footsteps by becoming an Olympian.

“We absolutely did it,” Naumov said. “Every day, year after year, we talked about the Olympics. It means so much in our family. It's what I've been thinking about since I was 5 years old, before I even know what to think. I can't put this into words.”

Chock and Bates helped the Americans win team gold at the Beijing Games four years ago, but they finished fourth — one spot out of the medals — in the ice dance competition. They have hardly finished anywhere but first in the years since, winning three consecutive world championships and the gold medal at three straight Grand Prix Finals.

U.S. silver medalists Emilea Zingas and Vadym Kolesnik also made the dance team, as did the Canadian-born Christina Carreira, who became eligible for the Olympics in November when her American citizenship came through, and Anthony Ponomarenko.

Liu was picked for her second Olympic team after briefly retiring following the Beijing Games. She had been burned out by years of practice and competing, but stepping away seemed to rejuvenate the 20-year-old from Clovis, California, and she returned to win the first world title by an American since Kimmie Meissner stood atop the podium two decades ago.

Now, the avant-garde Liu will be trying to help the U.S. win its first women's medal since Sasha Cohen in Turin in 2006, and perhaps the first gold medal since Sarah Hughes triumphed four years earlier at the Salt Lake City Games.

Her biggest competition, besides a powerful Japanese contingent, could come from her own teammates: Glenn, a first-time Olympian, has been nearly unbeatable the past two years, while 18-year-old Isabeau Levito is a former world silver medalist.

"This was my goal and my dream and it just feels so special that it came true,” said Levito, whose mother is originally from Milan.

The two pairs spots went to Ellie Kam and Danny O'Shea, the U.S. silver medalists, and the team of Emily Chan and Spencer Howe.

The top American pairs team, two-time reigning U.S. champions Alisa Efimova and Misha Mitrofanov, were hoping that the Finnish-born Efimova would get her citizenship approved in time to compete in Italy. But despite efforts by the Skating Club of Boston, where they train, and the help of their U.S. senators, she did not receive her passport by the selection deadline.

“The importance and magnitude of selecting an Olympic team is one of the most important milestones in an athlete's life,” U.S. Figure Skating CEO Matt Farrell said, "and it has such an impact, and while there are sometimes rules, there is also a human element to this that we really have to take into account as we make decisions and what's best going forward from a selection process.

“Sometimes these aren't easy," Farrell said, “and this is not the fun part.”

The fun is just beginning, though, for the 16 athletes picked for the powerful American team.

AP Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/milan-cortina-2026-winter-olympics

Amber Glenn competes during the women's free skating competition at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships, Friday, Jan. 9, 2026, in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)

Alysa Liu skates during the "Making Team USA" performance at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026, in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)

Maxim Naumov skates during the "Making Team USA" performance at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026, in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)

Madison Chock and Evan Bates skate during the "Making the Team" performance at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026, in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)

Gold medalist Ilia Malinin arrives for the metal ceremony after the men's free skate competition at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships, Saturday, Jan. 10, 2026, in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)