MADRID (AP) — Teenage star Lamine Yamal made up for missing an open goal with a trademark curler from outside the penalty area as Barcelona beat Mallorca 3-0 on Saturday to move four points ahead at the top of La Liga.
Robert Lewandowski had put Barcelona ahead and 18-year-old homegrown player Marc Bernal scored his first career goal late on to seal a convincing win. Yamal and Lewandowski have scored 10 league goals each this season.
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Barcelona's Marcus Rashford, center, attempts a shot on goal during the Spanish La Liga soccer match between Barcelona and Mallorca in Barcelona, Spain, Saturday, Feb. 7, 2026. (AP Photo/Joan Monfort)
Barcelona's Marc Bernal, right, is congratulated after scoring his side's 3rd goal during the Spanish La Liga soccer match between Barcelona and Mallorca in Barcelona, Spain, Saturday, Feb. 7, 2026. (AP Photo/Joan Monfort)
Barcelona's Robert Lewandowski, left, and Marcus Rashford talk during the Spanish La Liga soccer match between Barcelona and Mallorca in Barcelona, Spain, Saturday, Feb. 7, 2026. (AP Photo/Joan Monfort)
Barcelona's Lamine Yamal (10) celebrates scoring his side's 2nd goal followed by teammate Dani Olmo during the Spanish La Liga soccer match between Barcelona and Mallorca in Barcelona, Spain, Saturday, Feb. 7, 2026. (AP Photo/Joan Monfort)
Barcelona's Lamine Yamal, left, scores his side's 2nd goal during the Spanish La Liga soccer match between Barcelona and Mallorca in Barcelona, Spain, Saturday, Feb. 7, 2026. (AP Photo/Joan Monfort)
Second-place Real Madrid can close the gap to one point if it wins at Valencia on Sunday.
Lewandowski pounced from close range in the 29th minute following good work down the left from Marcus Rashford. His shot was blocked and Lewandowski showed typically cool composure to control the ball and guide it past a defender before picking his spot.
Rashford's form has improved throughout the season and he came close to scoring in first-half injury time when his curling free kick produced a brilliant save from Leo Roman.
The ball fell to right back Jules Koundé near the penalty spot and his scuffed shot landed at the feet of Yamal, who somehow skewered wide from almost on the goal line.
The 18-year-old prodigy was given a pat on the back by Lewandowski, who is one of the modern era's most prolific scorers with over 650 club goals — including 344 with his former club Bayern Munich and more than 100 for Barça.
Yamal showed his class in the 61st minute with a brilliant strike, ghosting past one defender on the edge of the area and then planting a powerful dipping shot into the bottom corner, a strike hit so cleanly with his left foot that Roman did not even move.
Yamal and Lewandowski were replaced and both applauded Bernal's excellent goal in the 83rd.
Barça sliced Mallorca open in midfield with four quick passes to send Bernal racing through, and he showed good composure to cut inside a defender and stroke the ball inside the post.
In Saturday's only other game, Real Sociedad beat Elche 3-1 to move into eighth place.
Goals from Croatia midfielder Luka Sučić and Spain forward Mikel Oyarzabal put Sociedad 2-0 up, only for Portugal striker André Silva to pull one back close to halftime.
Iceland captain Orri Stein Oskarsson replaced Oyarzabal near the end and netted his side's third goal in the 89th.
Two matches were called off.
Rayo Vallecano’s home match against Oviedo was postponed at short notice because of safety concerns over the field at Vallecas Stadium. The league also called off Sevilla vs. Girona due to adverse weather conditions.
While Oviedo said it understood the decision, the team criticized the short notice and was considering legal action.
Barcelona became the latest club to cut ties with a proposed breakaway European Super League.
AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer
Barcelona's Marcus Rashford, center, attempts a shot on goal during the Spanish La Liga soccer match between Barcelona and Mallorca in Barcelona, Spain, Saturday, Feb. 7, 2026. (AP Photo/Joan Monfort)
Barcelona's Marc Bernal, right, is congratulated after scoring his side's 3rd goal during the Spanish La Liga soccer match between Barcelona and Mallorca in Barcelona, Spain, Saturday, Feb. 7, 2026. (AP Photo/Joan Monfort)
Barcelona's Robert Lewandowski, left, and Marcus Rashford talk during the Spanish La Liga soccer match between Barcelona and Mallorca in Barcelona, Spain, Saturday, Feb. 7, 2026. (AP Photo/Joan Monfort)
Barcelona's Lamine Yamal (10) celebrates scoring his side's 2nd goal followed by teammate Dani Olmo during the Spanish La Liga soccer match between Barcelona and Mallorca in Barcelona, Spain, Saturday, Feb. 7, 2026. (AP Photo/Joan Monfort)
Barcelona's Lamine Yamal, left, scores his side's 2nd goal during the Spanish La Liga soccer match between Barcelona and Mallorca in Barcelona, Spain, Saturday, Feb. 7, 2026. (AP Photo/Joan Monfort)
LIVIGNO, Italy (AP) — That ever-growing bench of Japanese snowboarders runs deep. Jumps very high, too.
The country that has steadily been asserting mastery over the halfpipe took that show to the Winter Olympics big air contest Saturday night, where Kira Kimura and Ryoma Kimata flew and stomped their way to a 1-2 finish to put their country on the top of the sport's highest flying event.
“It's not only the winter season, it's the summer season, as well,” Kimura said in explaining Japan's 365-day-a-year obsession with this sport. “We practice on the air bags. Our coaches are really good. We had a really good offseason, lots of preparation.”
No single country has benefitted the way Japan has from the relatively new phenomenon of being able to practice using air bags to cushion falls during practice. It opens up new possibilities, both in the difficulty of the tricks riders can perfect and the time they can spend doing it.
For Japan, this had been showing up on the halfpipe — the sport's signature event — for at least 12 years now. When Ayumu Hirano won the Olympic title four years ago, it marked has third Olympic medal. Even though he comes into these Games injured, a big crew from his country is ready to fill the void.
But in a different sign of how deep, and wide, this Japanese team rolls, they placed all four of their riders into the 12-man final of big air, an event that was added to the Olympic program in 2018. The rider who led qualifying, Hiroto Ogiwara, finished last. The other one, Taiga Hasegawa, finished 11th.
Why is their country so good at this?
“We hate to lose,” said Ogiwara, who has won the last two X Games big air contests.
It was not a night of groundbreaking tricks on a hill that has not been generating breakneck speed this week. NBC's Todd Richards, a 1998 halfpipe Olympian, got caught telling the truth on a hot mic after the event was over: “That was so boring,” he said.
But Japan can do boring, too. In a contest where the judges rewarded consistency, Japan was there to scoop up the medals. Kimura, whose best previous results were three second-place finishes in World Cup events, won with a score of 179.50, the total of his two best runs out of three.
After falling on his second try, he landed an all-or-nothing jump — riding backward, then spinning 5 1/2 times with a solid grab of his board between the bindings — to take the lead.
His teammate, Kimata — who won the world championship in this event last year — had a chance to beat him, but instead finished eight points behind.
“I’m not surprised at all,” American snowboard director Rick Bower said. “They have like 20 air bags in Japan, and they’re just pumping out amazing riders and it’s showing.”
Defending champion Su Yiming of China finished third to round out his collection of Olympic medals.
His silver came on home turf four years ago in slopestyle. Su's hands touched the ground on his second jump, but that jump had an extra 90 degrees of rotation and a tougher grab than 17-year-old Ollie Martin, so he vaulted past the American for the bronze.
“As a defending champion coming back here and having so much pressure, I'm proud of myself to come back and perform,” Su said.
A proud day for Japan, too. Before this, the country had accumulated a single bronze medal in big air, saving most of the celebrations for Hirano and Co. on the halfpipe.
Now, it's starting to feel like the entire snow park is theirs.
“They have a ton of heart. They put their heads down and perfect things to the most minute detail,” New Zealand’s Lyon Farrell said after finishing eighth.
Ogiwara said he was proud of his teammates, a little disappointed in himself, but optimistic about the future.
The very near future.
“I'm going to win the slopestyle,” he said.
AP Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/milan-cortina-2026-winter-olympics
Japan's Kira Kimura reacts during the men's snowboarding big air finals at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Livigno, Italy, Saturday, Feb. 7, 2026. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson)
Gold medalist Japan's Kira Kimura celebrates with his medal after the men's snowboarding big air finals at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Livigno, Italy, Saturday, Feb. 7, 2026. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson)
From left, silver medalist Japan's Ryoma Kimata, gold medalist Japan's Kira Kimura and bronze medalist China's Su Yiming celebrate after the men's snowboarding big air finals at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Livigno, Italy, Saturday, Feb. 7, 2026. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson)
Japan's Kira Kimura, left, celebrates with China's Su Yiming during the men's snowboarding big air finals at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Livigno, Italy, Saturday, Feb. 7, 2026. (AP Photo/Abbie Parr)
Japan's Kira Kimura celebrates winning the men's snowboarding big air finals at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Livigno, Italy, Saturday, Feb. 7, 2026. (AP Photo/Abbie Parr)
From left, silver medalist Japan's Ryoma Kimata, gold medalist Japan's Kira Kimura and bronze medalist China's Su Yiming stand after the men's snowboarding big air finals at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Livigno, Italy, Saturday, Feb. 7, 2026. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson)
Japan's Kira Kimura reacts during the men's snowboarding big air finals at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Livigno, Italy, Saturday, Feb. 7, 2026. (AP Photo/Abbie Parr)
Japan's Kira Kimura reacts during the men's snowboarding big air finals at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Livigno, Italy, Saturday, Feb. 7, 2026. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson)
