Messi shines, Barcelona firmly holds top spot in La Liga

After an excellent victory over Chelsea in the Champions League, Barcelona continued their conquest of the La Liga championship. The huge gap in points with Atletico and Real Madrid made coach Valverde and his team feel comfortable.

Alcacer opened the scoring for Barcelona quite early.

Barcelona took an early advantage when Alcacer opened the scoring in the 8th minute. In the first half, Messi left his mark with a goal and he has 25 goals in La Liga this year, continuing to lead the race for the Golden Boot.

In addition to the two goals scored, Barcelona also hit the crossbar of Bilbao's goal three times. With this easy victory, Barcelona has 75 points/29 matches and firmly holds the top position in La Liga, at the same time temporarily putting great pressure on Atletico (64 points) and Real Madrid (57 points) in tonight's series of matches.

With Luis Suarez serving a suspension, coach Valverde used Coutinho as a starter alongside Alcacer, Messi, and three midfielders including Dembele, Paulinho, and Rakitic. Immediately after the opening whistle, Barcelona pushed up their formation in search of a goal.

Right in the 4th minute, from a free kick about 25 meters from the goal, Lionel Messi took a familiar shot into the A corner but goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga was able to push the ball away to save Bilbao.

Barcelona's pressure was materialized in the 8th minute. From a good combination on the left wing, Alba made a favorable cross for Paco Alcacer to place a tricky shot past goalkeeper Kepa, opening the score 1-0 for Barcelona.

Messi shines, Barcelona firmly holds the top spot in La Liga. Messi has scored his 25th goal in La Liga this year.

4 minutes later, Messi fired a dangerous shot but goalkeeper Kepa dived to save it. Coutinho also played energetically and he had a shot that beat Kepa, but the ball hit the crossbar.

In the 26th minute, Coutinho had a great dribble before passing the ball to Dembele to finish close to the goal, but the ball went straight to goalkeeper Kepa. 4 minutes later, Messi handled the ball smartly in the penalty area and then kicked the ball accurately past Kepa, doubling the gap to 2-0 for Barcelona.

Coutinho was playing with great effort and in the 36th minute, after a classy pass from Paulinho, Coutinho got down and gently lifted the ball over goalkeeper Kepa's head but for the second time since the start of the match, the former Liverpool player's shot hit the crossbar.

In the 42nd minute, after a good combination with Coutinho, Messi had the opportunity to launch a technical shot right in front of the penalty area but the ball was accidentally blocked by teammate Paco Alcacer, missing the scoring opportunity.

In the final minute of the first half, Dembele passed the ball to Paulinho for a quick shot, but the ball hit Bilbao's crossbar for the third time. In the first minutes of the second half, Bilbao pushed up their formation while Barca played slowly to find an opening in their opponent's play.

Barcelona are on course for this year's La Liga title.

In the 57th minute, Coutinho dribbled and fired a powerful left-footed shot, but the ball went straight to goalkeeper Kepa. In the following minutes, Barca took the initiative to slow down the match and coach Valverde brought Aleix Vidal and then Iniesta onto the field.

In the 74th minute, Aduriz had a chance to face Stegen, but the referee blew the Bilbao striker offside. Nine minutes later, Messi skillfully broke through the Bilbao defenders and quickly curled the ball into the net, but goalkeeper Kepa caught it.

Four minutes before the end, Aduriz had a chance but his shot went wide. Unable to score, Bilbao accepted a 0-2 loss at the Nou Camp, while Barcelona were on the way to the La Liga title this year.