Nervy Barca cling on to beat Celta

Barcelona, Oct. 11: Pedri's goal helped Barcelona earn an agonising 1-0 win over Celta Vigo to move back top of La Liga on Sunday.

After Real Madrid beat Getafe, Barcelona knew they had to beat the Galicians to head into next Sunday's Clasico as league leaders, but Celta did not make it easy for them.

With Barcelona clutching a narrow advantage, the visitors came close to an equaliser at Camp Nou and Marc-Andre ter Stegen earned a sixth consecutive domestic clean sheet with a brilliant save from Iago Aspas late on.

"We had a great second half, with four, or five, or six clear chances, but if you don't score at Camp Nou then it's normal that you lose," Aspas told DAZN. "They ended up wasting time on throw-ins."

It was the kind of performance which does not bode well for Barcelona's crucial Champions League clash with Inter Milan on Wednesday.

"Playing like we did in the second half it will be very hard (to beat Inter), but in the first half yes, we have to maintain that level," said Barca coach Xavi Hernandez.

"Today we had the luck of having a great goalkeeper, but we have to improve, we have to be self-critical."

Barcelona missed a slew of early chances, with Ferran Torres unable to reach a tempting cross and having another effort saved by Agustin Marchesin, while the goalkeeper also did well to claw out a rasping drive from Raphinha.

The pressure soon told and Pedri sent Barcelona ahead in the 17th minute, with Celta defender Unai Nunez accidentally teeing up the Spanish midfielder when he tried to cut out Gavi's cross.

Jordi Alba blasted into the side netting and Pedri delighted fans with a burst forward from midfield, as Barcelona continued to dominate.

Elsewhere Brais Mendez continued his brilliant goalscoring form to earn Real Sociedad a 1-0 win over Villarreal and send the Basque side sixth in La Liga.

The winger now has five goals in six matches in Spain's top flight, with his well-taken 32nd-minute strike securing a deserved triumph for Imanol Alguacil's team.

Real Betis, fifth, drew 0-0 at Real Valladolid and Joselu scored twice for Espanyol in a 2-2 draw at Cadiz.