Carlos Alena and Suarez bring Barcelona closer to the throne
Visiting Alaves, Barcelona did not encounter too much difficulty to win overwhelmingly 2-0, thereby moving closer to the La Liga title.
Goal
Barca: Carlos Alena (54'), Suarez (60' pen)
Traveling to Alaves' Estadio de Mendizorroza, coach Ernesto Valverde continued to rotate his squad to ensure the fitness of his key players. Messi, Jordi Alba, Lenglet and Ivan Rakitic were the mainstays left on the bench.
The quality of the squad on the field was still guaranteed, with stars on the attack line such as Dembele, Coutinho and Suarez. In fact, Barca entered the game coherently, overwhelming the opponent in terms of game position and creating many situations to attack the goal.
In the 5th minute, Suarez and Coutinho scored two consecutive shots. Next was a header from Arturo Vidal and a volley from Sergi Roberto. However, during the first 45 minutes of the match, Barca could not score against the home team.
It was not until the second half that the Catalan giants achieved their goal. In the 54th minute, Carlos Alena charged straight into the penalty area to make a tricky shot to open the scoring after a well-planned attack.
A few minutes later, Barca were awarded a penalty and Suarez did not miss the chance to double the gap. In the 68th minute, coach Valverde decided to send Messi onto the field. The Argentine superstar immediately showed his class with a breakthrough and powerful shot, forcing the opposing goalkeeper to push the ball away for a corner kick.
The final significant moment of the match was a header by Vidal that went over the crossbar. In the end, Barca won 2-0 and moved very close to the La Liga title. Barca now have 80 points after 34 matches, while second-placed Atletico have 68 points after 33 matches.
Because of the better head-to-head record, it can be seen that Barca is 12.5 points ahead of Atletico. Thus, if Atletico loses tonight, the Catalan team will be crowned. Or later, in round 35, Barca will be crowned if they continue to win.
Line-up
Alaves:Pacheco, Vigaray, Ximo Navarro, Laguardia, Ely (Twumasi, 71'), Duarte, Rolan (Brasanac 46'), Wakaso, Pina, Jony (Guidetti, 81'), Borja.
Barca:Ter Stegen, Semedo (Alba, 70'), Piqué, Umtiti, Sergi Roberto, Busquets, Arturo Vidal, Alenã́ (Arthur, 87'), Dembélé (Messi, 61'), Coutinho, Súarez.
