Barcelona closes in on La Liga title and Atletico wins before facing Arsenal

BARCELONA, Spain (AP) — Barcelona closed in on a second consecutive La Liga title after a rare win at Getafe on Saturday, while Atletico Madrid got a much-needed boost before facing Arsenal in the Champions League semifinals.

Fermín López dedicated his 45th-minute opener to the injured Lamine Yamal, Barcelona’s leading scorer and assist maker who will miss the rest of the season with a muscle injury but hopes to be fit for the World Cup with Spain.

After scoring, Fermín crossed his arms and held up his fingers to make the “304” sign that Yamal uses to celebrate his goals in reference to the final three numbers of the post code for his hometown just north of Barcelona.

Marcus Rashford went on as a substitute and sealed the 2-0 victory in the 74th as Barcelona earned its first win at Getafe in six seasons.

Barcelona increased the gap over second-placed Real Madrid to a commanding 11 points with just five rounds to go, including a clasico between them at Camp Nou on May 10.

“We’ll celebrate at the end of the season if we can. Now it’s time to focus on the next game," Barcelona coach Hansi Flick said, looking ahead to next weekend's game at Osasuna. “We wanted a good performance and play in our way against Getafe. We did really well at a tricky stadium.”

Getafe’s physical and no-frills defense stymied Barcelona for half a decade in their meetings at Coliseum Stadium. Barcelona had scored only once in its previous five trips to southern Madrid, a run of four straight draws and a loss in 2020. Barcelona’s previous win here was in 2019.

And Saturday’s game started as yet another slog for Barcelona until Pau Cubarsí won a tackle in midfield and Pedri González seized the chance to catch Getafe’s defense finally out of position. The Spain midfielder fed a superb pass forward to beat the hosts’ offside trap, and Fermín did the rest by firing past David Soria.

Then, with Getafe pushing forward in hopes of a late equalizer, Rashford raced onto a long ball by Robert Lewandowski and dribbled more than half the pitch before he sized up Soria and fired home.

Barcelona announced on Thursday that Yamal would miss the rest of the season after he picked up a muscle injury in his left leg the day before from converting a penalty in a 1-0 win over Celta Vigo.

“I want to send him a big hug from here,” Fermín said about Yamal after the game. “He is very important for us. It is too bad he can’t play but now he can recover well and play in the World Cup.”

Little-used forward Roony Bardghji started in Yamal’s spot on the right side of Barcelona’s attack. The 20-year-old Swede fired wide on Barcelona’s only scoring opportunity before Fermín broke through.

Getafe, which has overachieved this campaign again under coach José Bordalás, remained in sixth place and in the fight for a Europa League berth.

Madrid's already scant hopes of catching Barcelona took another blow on Friday when Real Betis scored in stoppage time to draw 1-1. Madrid is eyeing back-to-back seasons without a major title since the arrival of Kylian Mbappé.

Surprisingly for a team that reached the Copa del Rey final, is in the top four of La Liga and the final four of Europe’s top competition, Atletico was on a horrible run of results in recent weeks.

Diego Simeone’s side had lost seven of its previous eight games across all competitions, including a defeat on penalties to Real Sociedad in the Copa del Rey final last weekend.

But goals by Antoine Griezmann in the 49th and a brace by Alexander Sorloth at Metropolitano Stadium ensured a 3-2 comeback win against Athletic Bilbao.

Athletic got an opener from Aitor Paredes, while Gorka Guruzeta scored in stoppage time.

Atletico, which hosts Arsenal on Wednesday, remained in fourth place with a 10-point gap over Betis in fifth.

Jan Oblak made a second straight start for Atletico after the goalkeeper missed several games with a muscle injury, but Atletico lost midfielder Pablo Barrios after he went down with what looked like a leg muscle injury.

“It was important to win today for our confidence ahead of Wednesday,” said Griezmann, who will leave Atletico to join Orlando City in the MLS next season.

Alaves forward Toni Martínez scored twice in less than 10 minutes to rally his team for a 2-1 come-from-behind win over Mallorca, while Valencia beat Girona 2-1.

Besides the top five teams, the rest of the table was incredibly compact with just 10 points separating Getafe in sixth from 18th-placed Sevilla in the relegation zone.

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

Barcelona's Fermin Lopez, left, and Getafe's Sebastian Boselli compete for the ball during the Spanish La Liga soccer match between Getafe and Barcelona in Getafe, Spain, Saturday, April 25, 2026. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)

Barcelona's Fermin Lopez, front, is challenged by Getafe's Djene Dakonam during the Spanish La Liga soccer match between Getafe and Barcelona in Getafe, Spain, Saturday, April 25, 2026. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)

Barcelona's Marcus Rashford, third from left, is congratulated after scoring his side's 2nd goal during the Spanish La Liga soccer match between Getafe and Barcelona in Getafe, Spain, Saturday, April 25, 2026. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)

Barcelona's Marcus Rashford scores his side's 2nd goal during the Spanish La Liga soccer match between Getafe and Barcelona in Getafe, Spain, Saturday, April 25, 2026. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)

Barcelona's Marcus Rashford, center, scores his side's 2nd goal during the Spanish La Liga soccer match between Getafe and Barcelona in Getafe, Spain, Saturday, April 25, 2026. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)

Donald Trump's attendance at Saturday's annual White House Correspondents' Association dinner in Washington for his first time as president is putting his administration's often-contentious relationship with the press on full public display.

Trump arrived Saturday night to an event where the leaders of a nation at war mingled with celebrities, journalists and even a puppet — Triumph the Insult Comic Dog — in a dinner that typically generates debate about whether the relationship between journalists and their sources should include socializing together and putting aside sometimes adversarial relationships.

Trump was being watched closely at the event held by the organization of reporters who cover him and his administration. Past presidents who have attended have generally spoken about the importance of free speech and the First Amendment, adding in some light roasts about individual journalists.

The Republican president did not attend during his first term or the first year of his second. He came as a guest in 2011, sitting in the audience as President Barack Obama, a Democrat, made some jokes about the New York real estate developer. Trump also attended as a private citizen in 2015.

Trump entered the subterranean banquet hall of the Washington Hilton to the strains of “Hail to the Chief” and greeted prominent journalists on the dais, also pausing to laud White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt with a cheerful pointing of his finger.

Past dinners have also featured comedians who poke at presidents. This year, the group opted to hire mentalist Oz Pearlman as the featured entertainment.

Trump’s appearance is rekindling a longer running debate about the dinner and events like it — in particular, whether it is poor form for journalists to be seen socializing with the people they cover. The New York Times, for example, stopped attending the dinner more than a decade ago for that reason.

“What was once (a fairly long time ago) a well-intended night of fundraising and camaraderie among professional adversaries is now simply a bad look,” wrote Kelly McBride, ethics expert at the Poynter Institute, a journalism think tank.

Between berating individual reporters, fighting organizations like the Times, The Wall Street Journal and The Associated Press in court and restricting press access to the Pentagon, the administration’s animus toward journalists has been a fixture of Trump’s second term.

On the eve of the dinner, nearly 500 retired journalists signed a petition calling on the association "to forcefully demonstrate opposition to President Trump’s efforts to trample freedom of the press.”

The WHCA president, CBS News reporter Weijia Jiang, said the organization was fighting for all different forms of the press that have a line in to the American people. “I don't think people realize how closely we are working with the White House,” she said on CSPAN before the dinner convened. “The relationship is important. It can be complicated. It can be intense. But it is robust.”

Welcoming guests, Jiang alluded to the contentious relationship in thanking Leavitt “for everything your team does to work with us every day, whether you like it or not.”

Veteran reporter Manu Raju of CNN, as he entered the Washington Hilton for the dinner, said it was not his role to express his opinion on Trump's relationship with the press. “I'm not an activist,” he said. “My job is not to protest.”

A few dozen protesters stood across the hotel in the runup to the event. One was dressed in a prison uniform, wearing a Pete Hegseth mask and red gloves. Another carried a sign saying “Journalism is dead.”

Many reporters who attend consider it a valuable opportunity to get story ideas and establish personal connections with those in government, one that may pay dividends with returned telephone calls in the future.

Journalists often invite sources as guests at the dinner. It will be noticed Saturday whether administration officials who have also expressed hostility to the press will attend, and with whom they will be sitting. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said he was invited by the New York Post; Interior Secretary Doug Burgum and Secretary of State Marco Rubio were NBC guests.

The Associated Press invited a former Trump official that it sued last year. Taylor Budowich, a former White House deputy chief of staff who crafted communications policy, was a named defendant last year when the AP sued the administration after it reduced its access to the president because the news outlet did not follow Trump's lead in renaming the Gulf of Mexico.

“We maintain professional relationships with people across the political spectrum because we are nonpartisan by design — focused on reporting the facts in the public's interest,” AP spokesman Patrick Maks said.

The White House correspondents will also hand out awards for exemplary reporting. That includes some stories that displeased Trump, such as one from the Journal about a birthday message Trump once sent to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. The story led to a presidential lawsuit.

AP journalists Collin Binkley and Sagar Meghani in Washington contributed to this report. David Bauder writes about the intersection of media and entertainment for The Associated Press. Follow him at http://x.com/dbauder and https://bsky.app/profile/dbauder.bsky.social.

Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and his wife Cheryl Hines pose for photographers at the annual White House Correspondents' Association Dinner, Saturday, April 25, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)

President Donald Trump arrives to the White House Correspondents Dinner, Saturday, April 25, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Allison Robbert)

Code Pink co-founder Medea Benjamin speaks to the media after being removed from the White House Correspondents Dinner, Saturday, April 25, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Allison Robbert)

People are seen outside of the White House Correspondents Dinner, Saturday, April 25, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Rod Lamkey, Jr.)

President Donald Trump's motorcade arrives at the White House Correspondents Dinner at the Washington Hilton, Saturday, April 25, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Rod Lamkey, Jr.)

A woman is escorted from the White House Correspondents' Dinner, Saturday, April 25, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Rod Lamkey, Jr.)

President Donald Trump arrives on Air Force One at Palm Beach International Airport in West Palm Beach Fla., Friday, April 24, 2026. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)