Barcelona will finish the weekend at the top of the La Liga table thanks to a hard-fought 2-0 win away to Las Palmas at the Gran Canaria Stadium on Saturday night. Barça were not at their best in the final third and struggled to create chances against a hard-working and well-organized Las Palmas side, but two substitutes found the net in the second half to secure the win and keep the Blaugrana in first place with 13 games remaining.

FIRST HALF

The story of the opening period was Barça's inability to turn their possession into chances: the Blaugrana had almost all of the ball and spent a great deal of time near the opposition's box but struggled time and time again to complete the final pass that would unlock a very well-organized Las Palmas defense.

Whether the passes were attempted low or through the air, they never quite met the target and the Catalans kept wasting promising attacks with poor decision-making in the final third. Barça's players also didn't have enough patience up front, often trying passes or shots from distance that were easily blocked or dealt with by the hosts.

Las Palmas on the other hand knew exactly what to do with the ball and looked dangerous every time they counter-attacked, and Wojciech Szczesny needed to make a couple of important saves to avoid conceding the opener.

The halftime whistle came to end a frustrating opening half for the Blaugrana, who were not playing badly but needed to get out of their own way and be more efficient up front to find the winning goals in the second half.

SECOND HALF

Hansi Flick made a halftime change as Dani Olmo replaced Fermín López as the number 10, with the hope that Olmo would add the creativity and finishing ability needed in the final third. And at the hour mark he did just that, finishing off a quick counter-attack with an amazing left-footed strike off the bar to put the visitors ahead.

Barça couldn't build on the momentum of the goal, however, and allowed Las Palmas to stick around and throw bodies forward looking for an equalizer. The Catalans did a solid job of keeping the hosts from creating any big chances, and were seemingly on their way to securing the clean sheet and the victory.

Then came the scare: Las Palmas defender Álex Suárez had a shot that hit Eric García's arm inside the box, and the home team was screaming for a penalty. There was a long VAR review and the referee was even called to the screen, but the spot kick was denied by an offside in the buildup and Barça escaped any further trouble.

Flick brought on Frenkie de Jong after that to try and control the pace of the game and run the clock out for the visitors, and Barça did that and even more as Ferran Torres came off the bench to score a beauty off the bar in the 96th minute to end Las Palmas' hopes and seal Barça's win.

The final whistle came to end a very difficult road trip for the leaders, but they knew how to survive the tough moments and scored two very good goals to clinch the victory. Las Palmas played well and made them earn it, but Barça certainly did the work to earn it.

Las Palmas: Cillessen; Viti (Pezzolesi 86'), Suárez, Mármol, A. Muñoz; Essugo (Campaña 67'), Bajcetic (Benito 86'); Sandro, J. Muñoz, Moleiro (Fuster 67'); McBurnie (Mata 67')

Goals: None

Barcelona: Szczesny; Kounde, Eric, Cubarsí, Balde; Casadó, Pedri (De Jong 85'); Yamal (Ferran 85'), Fermín (Olmo 46'), Raphinha (Martín 90+7'); Lewandowski