Barcelona increases Spanish league lead by beating Mallorca 1-0 on Dani Olmo's goal

MADRID (AP) — Dani Olmo scored early in the second half as Barcelona defeated Mallorca 1-0 to increase its Spanish league lead on Tuesday.

The home win gave the Catalan club a seven-point lead over Real Madrid, which visits Getafe on Wednesday. Barcelona, seeking its first league title since 2023, has five league games left.

Olmo's winner came a minute into the second half at Montjuic stadium, with the playmaker finding the net from inside the area.

It was the third consecutive victory for Barcelona in the league. The Catalan side had 40 attempts on goal, while Mallorca had only four — none on target

“We created many scoring opportunities and we should have taken advantage of them, but that's soccer,” Barcelona midfielder Gavi said. “We can't always score easily. We insisted until we finally scored and that's what's important.”

Mallorca, which has only two wins from its last nine matches, stayed in seventh place.

Barcelona and Madrid will meet in the Copa del Rey final on Saturday in Seville.

Barcelona coach Hansi Flick made several changes to his starting lineup, with forward Ansu Fati making his first league start in nearly six months. Striker Robert Lewandowski was absent because of a muscle injury.

“We played a great match,” Gavi said. “I'm happy for the players who rotated and got to play.”

Earlier Tuesday, Espanyol's three-game winning streak ended with a 1-1 draw at Valencia, which has drawn two in a row after three straight victories.

The result left both teams tied on 39 points, though Espanyol has a game in hand. Valencia was in 14th place, just behind Espanyol.

Also Wednesday, Celta Vigo hosts fifth-place Villarreal, and Las Palmas visits fourth-place Athletic Bilbao. Relegation-threatened Alaves welcomes ninth-place Real Sociedad.

On Thursday, third-place Atletico Madrid hosts midtable Rayo Vallecano, while sixth-place Real Betis visits last-place Valladolid, which has lost 12 of its last 13 matches.

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

Barcelona's head coach Hansi Flick, right, greets Barcelona's Ansu Fati after he is substituted by Barcelona's Raphinha during a Spanish La Liga soccer match between Barcelona and Mallorca at the Lluis Companys Olympic stadium in Barcelona, Spain, Tuesday, April 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Joan Monfort)

Barcelona's Raphinha falls to the ground after a challenge with Mallorca's Antonio Sanchez during a Spanish La Liga soccer match between Barcelona and Mallorca at the Lluis Companys Olympic stadium in Barcelona, Spain, Tuesday, April 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Joan Monfort)

Barcelona's Dani Olmo, center, celebrates with scoring his side's opening goal during a Spanish La Liga soccer match between Barcelona and Mallorca at the Lluis Companys Olympic stadium in Barcelona, Spain, Tuesday, April 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Joan Monfort)

Barcelona's Ronald Araujo, second right, attempts a shot at goal in front of Mallorca's goalkeeper Leo Roman during a Spanish La Liga soccer match between Barcelona and Mallorca at the Lluis Companys Olympic stadium in Barcelona, Spain, Tuesday, April 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Joan Monfort)

Mallorca's Cyle Larin, foreground, is challenged by Barcelona's Ronald Araujo during a Spanish La Liga soccer match between Barcelona and Mallorca at the Lluis Companys Olympic stadium in Barcelona, Spain, Tuesday, April 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Joan Monfort)

Barcelona's Lamine Yamal controls the ball during a Spanish La Liga soccer match between Barcelona and Mallorca at the Lluis Companys Olympic stadium in Barcelona, Spain, Tuesday, April 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Joan Monfort)

Barcelona's Lamine Yamal gets ready to take a corner kick during a Spanish La Liga soccer match between Barcelona and Mallorca at the Lluis Companys Olympic stadium in Barcelona, Spain, Tuesday, April 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Joan Monfort)

Barcelona's Pedri, right, passes the ball past Mallorca's Omar Mascarell during a Spanish La Liga soccer match between Barcelona and Mallorca at the Lluis Companys Olympic stadium in Barcelona, Spain, Tuesday, April 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Joan Monfort)

Barcelona's Dani Olmo, left, celebrates with his teammates after scoring his side's opening goal during a Spanish La Liga soccer match between Barcelona and Mallorca at the Lluis Companys Olympic stadium in Barcelona, Spain, Tuesday, April 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Joan Monfort)

Barcelona's Dani Olmo, second left, scores his side's opening goal during a Spanish La Liga soccer match between Barcelona and Mallorca at the Lluis Companys Olympic stadium in Barcelona, Spain, Tuesday, April 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Joan Monfort)

ALEPPO, Syria (AP) — The Syrian army on Tuesday declared an area east of the northern city of Aleppo a “closed military zone,” potentially signaling another escalation between government forces and fighters with the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces.

Several days of clashes in the city of Aleppo last week that displaced tens of thousands of people came to an end over the weekend with the evacuation of Kurdish fighters from the contested neighborhood of Sheikh Maqsoud.

Since then, Syrian officials have accused the SDF of building up its forces near the towns of Maskana and Deir Hafer, about 60 km (37 mi) east of Aleppo city, something the SDF denied.

State news agency SANA reported that the army had declared the area a closed military zone because of “continued mobilization” by the SDF “and because it serves as a launching point for Iranian suicide drones that have targeted the city of Aleppo.”

On Saturday afternoon, an explosive drone hit the Aleppo governorate building shortly after two Cabinet ministers and a local official held a news conference on the developments in the city. The SDF denied being behind the attack.

The army statement Tuesday said armed groups should withdraw to the area east of the Euphrates River.

The tensions come amid an impasse in political negotiations between the central state and the SDF.

The leadership in Damascus under interim President Ahmad al-Sharaa signed a deal in March with the SDF, which controls much of the northeast, for it to merge with the Syrian army by the end of 2025. There have been disagreements on how it would happen.

Some of the factions that make up the new Syrian army, formed after the fall of former President Bashar Assad in a rebel offensive in December 2024, were previously Turkey-backed insurgent groups that have a long history of clashing with Kurdish forces.

The SDF has for years been the main U.S. partner in Syria in fighting against the Islamic State group, but Turkey considers the SDF a terrorist organization because of its association with the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK, which has waged a long-running insurgency in Turkey. A peace process is now underway.

Despite the long-running U.S. support for the SDF, the Trump administration in the U.S. has also developed close ties with al-Sharaa’s government and has pushed the Kurds to implement the March deal.

Shams TV, a station based in Irbil, the seat of northern Iraq’s semi-autonomous Kurdish region, had been set to air an interview with al-Sharaa on Monday but later announced it had been postponed for “technical” reasons without giving a new date for airing it.

An aerial view shows the area in the predominantly Kurdish Sheikh Maqsoud neighborhood where clashes broke out Tuesday Jan. 6 between government forces and the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces in the northern city of Aleppo, Syria, Monday, Jan. 12, 2026. (AP Photo/Omar Albam)

Buses carry displaced residents as they return to the Achrafieh neighborhood after days of fighting between government forces and Kurdish fighters in the northern city of Aleppo, Syria, Monday, Jan. 12, 2026. (AP Photo/Ghaith Alsayed)

Buses carrying displaced residents drive past a building in ruins as they return to the Achrafieh neighborhood after days of fighting between government forces and Kurdish fighters in the northern city of Aleppo, Syria, Monday, Jan. 12, 2026. (AP Photo/Omar Albam)