Dembele and De Jong blow out the candles on Pique's farewell cake

If there's a second-to-none way to say goodbye to your long-standing captain and 'defence minister', just as Gerard Pique has been for Barca in the last more than ten years, then it's exactly what the Catalans did tonight.

They defeated Almeria 2-0 at Camp Nou and thus said farewell to the newly retired defender in the best possible manner.

Pique was under the spotlight all the time until the 83rd minute when Xavi decided to take him off for a deserved applause and standing ovation from 94.000 fans. Tears in his eyes showed how emotional it must have been for Pique.

In the shadows of Gerard's celebratory game, Ousmane Dembele and Frenkie de Jong netted in the span of 14 minutes in the second half to top the stubborn visitors.

It could have been quite different if Lewandowski had been more accurate from the spot even before the break, but his effort was woeful and went past the right post.

With these three points, Barca leapfrogged their archrivals Real Madrid at the top of the LaLiga table, at least for a night.

LA LIGA

Friday

Girona - Athletic Bilbao 2-1 (0-0)

/Lopez 67, Martin 75 - Guruzeta 78/

Saturday

Getafe - Cadiz 0-0

Valladolid - Elche 2-1 (1-0)

/Sanchez 40, Messa 46 - Josan 63/

Celta - Osasuna 1-2 (1-2)

/Aspas 19 - Avila 8,28/

Barcelona - Almeria 2-0 (0-0)

/Dembele 48, De Jong 62/

Sunday

16.00: (1.53) Atl.Madrid (4.20) Espanyol (8.00)

18.15: (1.99) Sociedad (3.50) Valencia (4.40)

20.30: (1.68) Villareal (3.70) Mallorca (6.50)

23.00: (2.30) Betis (3.25) Sevilla (3.60)

Monday

23.00: (6.00) Rayo Vallecano (3.90) Real Madrid (1.68)

***odds are subject to change