Barcelona routs 10-man Real Sociedad 4-0 to go top in Spain

MADRID (AP) — Barcelona cruised to a 4-0 rout of 10-man Real Sociedad to regain the lead in Spain on Sunday.

Gerard Martín, Marc Casadó, Ronald Araujo and Robert Lewandowski scored a goal each to put Barcelona one point ahead of second-placed Atletico Madrid at the top of the Spanish league.

“There is still a long way to go and everything can change very quickly,” Barcelona coach Hansi Flick said. “We have to keep fighting until the end because we want to win everything we can.”

Barcelona is three points ahead of third-placed Real Madrid, which lost 2-1 at Real Betis on Saturday, when Atletico beat Athletic Bilbao 1-0 at home.

“Very happy with the match we played,” Araujo said. “It was important to win and become leaders again. It was a great effort by the team.”

Sociedad played a man down from the 17th minute after Aritz Elustondo was sent off with a straight red card for grabbing Barcelona forward Dani Olmo to stop a breakaway.

“The early red card for Real Sociedad changed everything, it’s true, but we forced them into it. They are a very good team but today we deserved the win,” Flick said.

It was the sixth win in a row for Barcelona in the league, and the second loss in three matches for Sociedad, which stayed in ninth place.

“It was a clear red card,” Sociedad coach Imanol Alguacil said. “After that there was no game. It’s already hard 11 against 11 against them, you can imagine with a man down.”

Flick rested some regular starters ahead of the team’s Champions League match at Benfica on Wednesday in the first leg of the round of 16.

“I am happy to be back at the top of the table in La Liga but now we have to focus on our next objective which is the game against Benfica,” Flick said.

Barcelona was in control from the start at Montjuic stadium, with Martín scoring in the 25th and Casadó in the 29th. Araujo added to the lead in the 56th and Lewandowski closed the scoring in the 60th for his eighth goal in his last nine matches.

Lewandowski now has 34 goals this season in all competitions, one more than the 33 he scored in what had been his previous best season with the Catalan club in 2022-23. He is the league’s top scorer with 21 goals, four more than Madrid’s Kylian Mbappé, who is second on the list.

Sociedad, which along with Barcelona, Madrid and Atletico is playing in the Copa del Rey semifinals, struggled from the start and had no attempts on goal. Barcelona had 33 total attempts.

Sociedad defender Hamari Traoré entered the match in the second half to mark his return to action nearly six months after having to undergo knee surgery.

Earlier Sunday, striker Diego García scored two minutes into second-half stoppage time to give 16th-placed Leganes a 1-0 win over 14th-placed Getafe in a match between teams from the Madrid area.

Valencia missed a chance to move out of the relegation zone after a 3-3 draw at midtable Osasuna.

Winless in three matches, Valencia earned a point with a neat backheel flick by Umar Sadiq in the 87th.

Osasuna hasn’t won in five consecutive games in all competitions.

Eighth-placed Mallorca drew 1-1 with 16th-placed Leganes.

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

Barcelona's Raphinha, right, passes the ball challenged by Real Sociedad's Jon Aramburu during the Spanish La Liga soccer match between Barcelona and Real Sociedad at the Lluis Companys Olympic Stadium in Barcelona, Spain, Sunday, March 2, 2025. (AP Photo/Joan Monfort)

Barcelona's Ronald Araujo celebrates scoring his side's 3rd goal during the Spanish La Liga soccer match between Barcelona and Real Sociedad at the Lluis Companys Olympic Stadium in Barcelona, Spain, Sunday, March 2, 2025. (AP Photo/Joan Monfort)

Barcelona's Lamine Yamal, left, dribbles the ball challenged by Real Sociedad's Javi Lopez during the Spanish La Liga soccer match between Barcelona and Real Sociedad at the Lluis Companys Olympic Stadium in Barcelona, Spain, Sunday, March 2, 2025. (AP Photo/Joan Monfort)

Referee Alejandro Quintero Gonzalez shows a red card to Real Sociedad's Aritz Elustondo (6) as Barcelona's Dani Olmo lies on the pitch during the Spanish La Liga soccer match between Barcelona and Real Sociedad at the Lluis Companys Olympic Stadium in Barcelona, Spain, Sunday, March 2, 2025. (AP Photo/Joan Monfort)

Barcelona's Robert Lewandowski (9) is challenged by Real Sociedad's Igor Zubeldia during the Spanish La Liga soccer match between Barcelona and Real Sociedad at the Lluis Companys Olympic Stadium in Barcelona, Spain, Sunday, March 2, 2025. (AP Photo/Joan Monfort)

Barcelona's Gerard Martin, right, is congratulated after scoring his side's opening goal during the Spanish La Liga soccer match between Barcelona and Real Sociedad at the Lluis Companys Olympic Stadium in Barcelona, Spain, Sunday, March 2, 2025. (AP Photo/Joan Monfort)

Barcelona's Marc Casado, front, celebrates scoring his side's 2nd goal during the Spanish La Liga soccer match between Barcelona and Real Sociedad at the Lluis Companys Olympic Stadium in Barcelona, Spain, Sunday, March 2, 2025. (AP Photo/Joan Monfort)

Barcelona's Marc Casado, front, celebrates scoring his side's 2nd goal during the Spanish La Liga soccer match between Barcelona and Real Sociedad at the Lluis Companys Olympic Stadium in Barcelona, Spain, Sunday, March 2, 2025. (AP Photo/Joan Monfort)

Barcelona's Ronald Araujo, left, and Real Sociedad's Jon Martin jump for the ball during the Spanish La Liga soccer match between Barcelona and Real Sociedad at the Lluis Companys Olympic Stadium in Barcelona, Spain, Sunday, March 2, 2025. (AP Photo/Joan Monfort)

Barcelona's Marc Casado, second from left, is congratulated after scoring his side's 2nd goal during the Spanish La Liga soccer match between Barcelona and Real Sociedad at the Lluis Companys Olympic Stadium in Barcelona, Spain, Sunday, March 2, 2025. (AP Photo/Joan Monfort)

Barcelona's Ronald Araujo celebrates scoring his side's 3rd goal during the Spanish La Liga soccer match between Barcelona and Real Sociedad at the Lluis Companys Olympic Stadium in Barcelona, Spain, Sunday, March 2, 2025. (AP Photo/Joan Monfort)

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) — President Donald Trump on Sunday fired off another warning to the government of Cuba as the close ally of Venezuela braces for potential widespread unrest after Nicolás Maduro was deposed as Venezuela's leader.

Cuba, a major beneficiary of Venezuelan oil, has now been cut off from those shipments as U.S. forces continue to seize tankers in an effort to control the production, refining and global distribution of the country's oil products.

Trump said on social media that Cuba long lived off Venezuelan oil and money and had offered security in return, “BUT NOT ANYMORE!”

“THERE WILL BE NO MORE OIL OR MONEY GOING TO CUBA - ZERO!” Trump said in the post as he spent the weekend at his home in southern Florida. “I strongly suggest they make a deal, BEFORE IT IS TOO LATE.” He did not explain what kind of deal.

The Cuban government said 32 of its military personnel were killed during the American operation last weekend that captured Maduro. The personnel from Cuba’s two main security agencies were in Caracas, the Venezuelan capital, as part of an agreement between Cuba and Venezuela.

“Venezuela doesn’t need protection anymore from the thugs and extortionists who held them hostage for so many years,” Trump said Sunday. “Venezuela now has the United States of America, the most powerful military in the World (by far!), to protect them, and protect them we will.”

Trump also responded to another account’s social media post predicting that his secretary of state, Marco Rubio, will be president of Cuba: “Sounds good to me!” Trump said.

Trump and top administration officials have taken an increasingly aggressive tone toward Cuba, which had been kept economically afloat by Venezuela. Long before Maduro's capture, severe blackouts were sidelining life in Cuba, where people endured long lines at gas stations and supermarkets amid the island’s worst economic crisis in decades.

Trump has said previously that the Cuban economy, battered by years of a U.S. embargo, would slide further with the ouster of Maduro.

“It’s going down,” Trump said of Cuba. “It’s going down for the count.”

A person watches the oil tanker Ocean Mariner, Monrovia, arrive to the bay in Havana, Cuba, Friday, Jan. 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)

President Donald Trump attends a meeting with oil executives in the East Room of the White House, Friday, Jan. 9, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)