First-half masterclass sees Barca ease to victory

Barcelona’s starting XI boasted a powerful arsenal in Ousmane Dembele, Coutinho and Lionel Messi, who was pivotal in the Catalans’ mid-week drumming of Chelsea.

- Barca quick out the blocks -

The home supporters couldn’t have asked for a better start. Paco Alcacer broke the deadlock inside eight minutes when he swept the ball beyond Kepa to give Barca an early lead. Not long later, Coutinho almost split the crossbar in two when he unleashed a venomous volley after some lackadaisical Basque defending.

After such an electric start, Valverde’s men showed no signs of sitting back and keeping their batteries charged. In the 30th minute, a Lionel Messi sledgehammer strike from the dee proved to be unstoppable and extended Barca’s hold on the game to two goals. Messi’s leathered strike marks the sixth consecutive game in which he has found the net and allowed Barca to cruise into half-time.

Bilbao, on the other hand, quivered with fear down the tunnel after suffering 45 minutes of relentless Barcelona pressure.

- Drowsy second half -

You would’ve thought someone had slipped tranquilisers into the Barca water bottles at half-time as their sluggish return to the pitch enabled Bilbao an early chance. Determined to claw back the deficit, Inigo Lekue unfortunately lacked precision and dragged his shot wide of the left post.

A lacklustre second half from Barca saw Valverde’s troops content to defend out their two goal lead. Luckily for them, Bilbao were equally as uninspiring.

Messi had a chance to make it 3-0 with two minutes to go after he ghosted past the Bilbao back four, but he fizzed his shot wide. Nonetheless, two goals were enough for the Catalans to stretch their lead at the summit of La Liga to 11 points - temporarily at least.

At the end of the day, Barca simply proved to be too rigid for the visitors who, despite recovering well from the trauma of the first 45 minutes, gave their fans nothing to write home about.