MADRID, April 21 -- FC Barcelona moved a step closer to the Spanish La Liga title thanks to a 2-1 win at home to Real Sociedad in the 33rd round of games this weekend.

Barca never reached the heights of last week's Champions League triumph against Manchester United as Real Sociedad defended well in the first half and pressed for an equalizer in the closing moments of the match.

It wasn't until the 44th minute that central defender Clement Lenglet headed Barca into the lead.

Real Sociedad drew level in the 62nd minute after Juanmi slid the ball home following a good pass from Mikel Merino, but Jordi Alba produced an almost immediate response to secure the points with a right-footed shot, although there was a moment of uncertainty as the referee used VAR to confirm that Ousmane Dembele had not obstructed the view of visiting keeper Geronimo Rulli.

The win means Barca need just six more points to assure the title, which will happen next weekend if they beat Alaves on Tuesday and Levante next Saturday.

Atletico Madrid remain in second and nine points behind Barca thanks to Thomas Lemar's late winner away to Eibar as Diego Simeone's side showed they can get by without the suspended Antoine Griezmann.

Real Madrid took a morale boosting 3-0 win at home to Athletic Bilbao, as striker Karim Benzema took advantage of Athletic missing their two injured right-backs and two horrible errors from keeper Iago Herrerin to score a hat-trick to continue his excellent run of form.

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