Madrid, April 23 : FC Barcelona beat Celta Vigo 1-0 at home to restore a nine-point lead over Real Madrid at the top of La Liga, but was forced to work hard for the win and lost Lamine Yamal to a hamstring injury.

With just six games to go, Barca are brilliantly poised to win a 29th Liga title, but nothing is decided yet. There are still games to be won before that becomes sure.

Celta caused problems on the counterattack in the first half, but Barcelona took the lead when Yamal weaved through the defense and was brought down in the area. The forward converted the resulting penalty, but injured his hamstring as he struck the ball and was forced off.

The match was halted for 15 minutes due to a medical emergency in the stands. In the second half, Ferran Torres had a goal ruled out for a marginal offside, reports Xinhua.

Elsewhere, Diego Simeone made sweeping changes to his Atletico Madrid side following its Copa del Rey final defeat, but his team lost 3-2 away to Elche, which climbed out of the relegation zone with the win.

Nico Gonzalez scored twice for Atletico, while goals from David Affengruber and a penalty from Andre Silva made it 2-2 at halftime, with Atletico's Thiago Almada sent off for the foul that led to the spot kick. Silva struck again in the second half to secure victory for Elche and push Alaves into the bottom three.

Getafe beat Real Sociedad 1-0 at the Anoeta Stadium to move up to sixth in the standings. Real Madrid defeated Alaves 2-1 at home, Real Betis edged Girona 3-2, Athletic Club drew 1-1 with Osasuna, and Mallorca and Valencia also played out a 1-1 draw.

/IANS