Barca on brink of locking down another La Liga championship

MADRID - Barcelona is closing in on its eighth La Liga title in 11 years after Clement Lenglet and Jordi Alba both scored in a 2-1 triumph over Real Sociedad on Saturday.

Barca only has to beat Alaves on Tuesday and Levante on Saturday to be crowned champion at Camp Nou, while three points against Alaves will be enough on its own if Atletico Madrid loses to Valencia on Wednesday.

Whether in three days or seven, it is now surely only a matter of when rather than if Ernesto Valverde's side successfully defends the trophy, despite Atletico keeping the gap to nine points after it edged Eibar earlier on Saturday.

"We have to get it out of our heads that we are nine points clear," Valverde said. "We now have three days until we play again, and it will be difficult."

Wrapping it up early would allow Barcelona the luxury of focusing completely on the Champions League, which could give it an advantage over semifinal opponent Liverpool, which seems to be embroiled in a Premier League race to the finish with Manchester City.

But this was no stroll, with Real Sociedad knotting the score in the second half thanks to Juanmi's equalizer - but parity lasted less than two minutes.

Lionel Messi might not have scored, but it was his brilliant pass that teed up Alba to notch the winner after Lenglet had earlier powered in a header from Ousmane Dembele's cross.

Barcelona stumbled out of the blocks this season but is now tearing down the home stretch.

This was its 21st league game without defeat, while Real Madrid sits 16 points behind ahead of a home match against Athletic Bilbao on Sunday.

"You always look at the matches of Real Madrid because you always consider them a rival," Valverde said. "In their case, they may be thinking about next season."

It was a surprise when Messi failed to score on a pair of free kicks in the first half, and Sociedad could have been in front but Juanmi was denied by Marc-Andre ter Stegen and Willian Jose spurned the rebound.

There was nothing complicated about Lenglet's opener, with the Frenchman rising high above two defenders and heading into the corner for his first league goal in a Barcelona shirt.

Ter Stegen and Alba were fortunate not to be punished for a mix-up and then Sociedad scored, in the 62nd minute, when Juanmi slid to connect with Mikel Merino's brilliant through ball.

In the 64th minute, Barca was ahead again as Messi weaved one way and then the other before finding Alba to his left.

The defender deftly jinked to the inside and blazed a shot into the far corner.

Earlier, Atletico Madrid needed Thomas Lemar to come off the bench and find an 85th-minute winner against Eibar as it stretched its lead over Real Madrid to seven points.

Agence France-Presse