The former Barcelona defender scored deep into stoppage time to earn Real Betis a 1-1 draw against Real Madrid, opening the door for Barcelona to extend their title lead to 11 points with five games remaining.

Bellerín denies Madrid at the death

Héctor Bellerín scored an injury-time equaliser for Real Betis on Friday to deny Real Madrid a victory that would have cut Barcelona's La Liga lead to six points. The final score of 1-1 left Real Madrid's title challenge significantly dented.

The result meant Barcelona entered their next fixture with the chance to move 11 points clear at the top of the table — an opportunity they converted. Barcelona beat Getafe to extend their lead to 11 points with five games left in the season.

Title race all but over

Barcelona's win over Getafe pushed them to the brink of defending their La Liga title. With five matches remaining, an 11-point advantage over Real Madrid leaves the defending champions in an overwhelmingly strong position.

The swing in momentum was sharp. Earlier in the week, Real Madrid had beaten relegation-threatened Alavés 2-1 — with goals from Kylian Mbappé and Vinícius Júnior — to close the gap on Barcelona to six points. Betis's stoppage-time leveller wiped out the ground Madrid had clawed back.

Yamal absent but Barcelona march on

Barcelona have navigated the run-in without Lamine Yamal, whose season is over after a hamstring injury he suffered while scoring a winning penalty against Celta Vigo. The 18-year-old's participation in the 2026 World Cup with Spain was also initially thrown into doubt, though he is expected to be fit in time for the tournament.

Yamal had scored the decisive goal in Barcelona's win over Celta Vigo, a result that helped restore their La Liga lead before the Betis-Madrid fixture further shifted the title picture in the Catalan club's favour.