Another Yamal show for Barcelona in win at Elche in La Liga

BARCELONA, Spain (AP) — Lamine Yamal put on another show as he scored Barcelona’s opener and tormented defenders all game long to spearhead the La Liga leader to a 3-1 win at Elche on Saturday.

Yamal scored in the sixth minute and passed for Marcus Rashford to put the victory beyond doubt late in the second half. Elche pulled level briefly in the first half before Ferran Torres re-established a 2-1 advantage just before halftime at Martínez Valero Stadium.

Their goals let Barcelona open a four-point gap over second-placed Real Madrid before it hosts Rayo Vallecano on Sunday.

It was a third game in a row that Yamal has scored for Barcelona. The 18-year-old Spain star also found the net in a 3-0 win over Real Oviedo last weekend and in a 4-1 victory over Copenhagen on Wednesday to propel his team into the Champions League round of 16.

Barcelona coach Hansi Flick praised Yamal, saying he still “has potential to reach another level.”

Elche has surprised in its return to the top-flight this season with its attack-first mentality despite having a modest squad. It has lost only once at home in 11 previous matches including a 2-2 draw with Madrid.

And coach Eder Sarabia, a former Barcelona assistant, didn’t shy away from trying to match Barcelona’s firepower.

But the hosts were lucky to be only a goal down by halftime after a whirlwind first half by the visitors. In addition to the goals by Yamal and Torres, Elche defender Víctor Chus cleared shots by Raphinha and Torres off the line, while Dani Olmo and Torres hit the woodwork a total of three times.

“We played a fantastic game today – except in the final meters,” Flick said. “Normally in the first half we would have decided this game.”

Yamal got Barcelona going early when Olmo, making his third consecutive start for the injured Pedri, recovered a ball and fed a long pass into open space with Elche’s left back out of position. Yamal did the rest by dribbling past former Barcelona goalkeeper Iñaki Peña and netting his 13th goal in this campaign.

Elche striker Álvaro Rodríguez equalized against the flow of play, beating goalie Joan Garcia one on one after Germán Valera set him up behind Barcelona’s high defensive line.

Barcelona responded by pouring forward, ending the game with 30 total shots to Elche's nine.

Torres hit the woodwork in succession when his volley hit the crossbar only to ricochet off his shoulder and back onto the post, and a Yamal pass was wasted by Fermín López on the edge of the six-yard box when he fired high.

Torres put Barcelona back in front in the 39th when he culminated an exquisite team passing move. The striker played Frenkie de Jong clear in the box, De Jong drew Peña and returned the ball to Torres to blast into the top of the net.

Rashford went on for Raphinha at halftime and scored in the 72nd after Yamal romped clear on the break before squaring a pass that an Elche defender touched before the former Manchester United forward rammed it home.

The loss left Elche in 12th.

Atletico Madrid was held to a scoreless draw at relegation-threatened Levante, three days after it fell at Bodø/Glimt 2-1 in the Champions League. The result left third-placed Atletico 10 points behind Barcelona.

Atletico striker Alexander Sorloth was taken to a hospital after he knocked heads with a Levante player in the first half.

Gerard Moreno scored twice to secure fourth-placed Villarreal a 2-2 draw at Osasuna, which dominated the first half.

Winger Víctor Múñoz and striker Ante Budimir scored for Osasuna.

Oviedo ended a 15-match winless run after edging Girona 1-0 at home thanks to a second-half goal by Ilyas Chaira. Oviedo, which was promoted this season, hadn’t won since late September. Oviedo remained in last place at six points from safety.

Girona's defeat ended a streak of three wins and a draw.

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

Barcelona's Lamine Yamal celebrates after scoring the opening goal with his teammate Barcelona's Raphinha during a Spanish La Liga soccer match between Elche and Barcelona in Elche, Spain, Saturday, Jan. 31, 2026. (AP Photo/Jose Breton)

Barcelona's Lamine Yamal celebrates after scoring the opening goal with his teammate Barcelona's Raphinha during a Spanish La Liga soccer match between Elche and Barcelona in Elche, Spain, Saturday, Jan. 31, 2026. (AP Photo/Jose Breton)

Barcelona's Lamine Yamal celebrates after scoring the opening goal with his teammate Barcelona's Raphinha during a Spanish La Liga soccer match between Elche and Barcelona in Elche, Spain, Saturday, Jan. 31, 2026. (AP Photo/Jose Breton)

Barcelona's Lamine Yamal celebrates after scoring the opening goal with his teammate Barcelona's Raphinha during a Spanish La Liga soccer match between Elche and Barcelona in Elche, Spain, Saturday, Jan. 31, 2026. (AP Photo/Jose Breton)

Barcelona's Lamine Yamal celebrates after scoring the opening goal with his teammate Barcelona's Raphinha during a Spanish La Liga soccer match between Elche and Barcelona in Elche, Spain, Saturday, Jan. 31, 2026. (AP Photo/Jose Breton)

A 5-year-old boy and his father must be released by Tuesday from the Texas center where they’ve been held after being detained by immigration officers in Minnesota, a federal judge ordered Saturday in a ruling that harshly criticized the Trump administration’s approach to enforcement.

Images of Liam Conejo Ramos, wearing a bunny hat and Spider-Man backpack, surrounded by Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers sparked even more outcry about the administration’s immigration crackdown in Minnesota.

The boy and his father, Adrian Conejo Arias, were detained in the Minneapolis suburb of Columbia Heights on Jan. 20. They were taken to a detention facility in Dilley, Texas.

That led to a protest at the Texas family detention center and a visit by two Texas Democratic members of Congress.

U.S. District Judge Fred Biery, who sits in San Antonio and was appointed by former Democratic President Bill Clinton, said in his ruling that “the case has its genesis in the ill-conceived and incompetently-implemented government pursuit of daily deportation quotas, apparently even if it requires traumatizing children.”

Biery had previously ruled that the boy and his father could not be removed from the U.S., at least for now.

In his order Saturday, Biery said: “apparent also is the government's ignorance of an American historical document called the Declaration of Independence,” suggesting the Trump administration's actions echo those that then-author and future President Thomas Jefferson enumerated as grievances against England's King George.

Among them: “He has sent hither Swarms of Officers to harass our People” and “He has excited domestic Insurrection among us.”

Biery included in his ruling a photo of Liam and references to two lines in the Bible: “Jesus said, ’Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these,” and “Jesus wept.”

He's not the only federal judge who has been tough on ICE recently. A Minnesota-based judge with a conservative pedigree described the agency as a serial violator of court orders related to the crackdown.

Stephen Miller, the White House chief of staff for policy, has said there’s a target of 3,000 immigration arrests a day. It’s that figure which the judge seemed to refer to as a “quota.”

Spokespersons from the U.S. Department of Justice and U.S. Department of Homeland Security did not immediately reply to requests for comment.

The Law Firm of Jennifer Scarborough, which is representing the boy and his family, said in a statement that it was working “to ensure a safe and timely reunion.”

“We are pleased that the family will now be able to focus on being together and finding some peace after this traumatic ordeal,” they said.

Neighbors and school officials say that federal immigration officers in Minnesota used the preschooler as “bait” by telling him to knock on the door to his house so that his mother would answer. The Department of Homeland Security has called that description of events an “abject lie.” It said the father fled on foot and left the boy in a running vehicle in their driveway.

The government says Arias entered the U.S. illegally in December 2024. The family's lawyer says he has a pending asylum claim that allows him to remain in the country.

During Wednesday's visit by Texas Reps. Joaquin Castro and Jasmine Crockett, the boy slept in the arms of his father, who said Liam was frequently tired and not eating well at the detention facility that houses about 1,100 people, according to Castro.

Detained families report poor conditions like worms in food, fighting for clean water and poor medical care at the detention center since its reopening last year. In December, a report filed by ICE acknowledged they held about 400 children longer than the recommended limit of 20 days.

Associated Press writer Valerie Gonzalez contributed to this article.

Protesters yell at a Texas state trooper outside the South Texas Family Residential Center detention facility where Liam Ramos and his father are being detained in Dilley, Texas, Wednesday, Jan. 28, 2026. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)

A canister of pepper spray launched by Texas troopers flies towards protesters outside the South Texas Family Residential Center detention facility where Liam Ramos and his father are being detained in Dilley, Texas, Wednesday, Jan. 28, 2026. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)

An order to release 5-year-old Liam Conejo Ramos and his father from detention, which included a picture of the boy and Bible verse references under the signature of U.S. District Judge Fred Biery, is photographed Saturday, Jan. 31, 2026. (AP Photo/Sydney Schaefer)

An order to release 5-year-old Liam Conejo Ramos and his father from detention, which included a picture of the boy and Bible verse references under the signature of U.S. District Judge Fred Biery, is photographed Saturday, Jan. 31, 2026. (AP Photo/Sydney Schaefer)