Espanyol were in the strange position of knowing they could hand the title to city rivals Barça if they took anything from the game, and they could have gone ahead inside three minutes when Roberto Fernández scuffed a shot wide from 15 yards out.
The hosts did not look like a team who had failed to win any of their previous 16 matches (D6, L10) as they made a strong start, although they were grateful to see Vinícius’ deflected effort cannon off the post in the eighth minute.
That chance signalled a change of momentum as Madrid took control, before the hosts briefly thought they had been reduced to 10 men when Omar El Hilali received a straight red card for a late challenge on Vinícius in the 25th minute.
However, referee Jesús Gil Manzano downgraded it to a booking after consulting the pitchside monitor.
The home fans’ furious reaction to that decision appeared to spark Espanyol into life, and Tyrhys Dolan blazed a good chance over the crossbar.
Federico Valverde then nodded straight at Marko Dmitrović before Brahim Díaz fired over on the turn for Real, while Andriy Lunin made a brilliant save to keep out Leandro Cabrera’s close-range header in first-half stoppage time.
Real had 45 minutes to delay the Barça party, and they made the breakthrough 10 minutes after half-time when Vinícius exchanged passes with Gonzalo García in the box, before slotting past Dmitrović.
Ramon Terrats almost equalised instantly with an acrobatic effort, but the ball struck a team-mate and looped over the crossbar, before the midfielder curled just wide of Lunin’s far post.
Vinícius would not be upstaged, though, and doubled the lead midway through the half when he took Jude Bellingham’s back-heel in his stride and fired into the top corner.
It was the Brazilian’s 21st goal of the season across all competitions, and his eighth goal involvement in the past seven games against Espanyol (G5, A3).
Carlos Romero fired straight at Lunin as the hosts searched for a response, but it was in vain as they failed to score for the fourth time in five matches.
This hard-fought victory ends Real’s three-game winless run on the road, but they must beat Barcelona at Camp Nou next Sunday to keep their very faint title hopes alive for another week.
Meanwhile, Espanyol are still waiting for their first win of 2026 and could find themselves only three points above the bottom three if Sevilla beat Real Sociedad on Monday.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Vinícius Júnior (Real Madrid)