Alaves 0-2 Barcelona: Messi misses a penalty then strikes twice
Two goals from the Argentine resulted in Barcelona taking home the points
Paulinho made his debut after coming on as a substitute
Lionel Messi missed a penalty but then struck twice as Barcelona saw off a spirited Alaves on Saturday.
Marc-Andre ter Stegen tipped a strike over the bar from Oscar Romero early on as Alaves showed they wouldn’t be pushovers.
Lionel Messi was unsurprisingly Barcelona’s brightest spark and he tested Fernando Pacheco with a low strike.
At the other end Ruben Sobrino fired wide when he should have scored after a counter attack, although the offside flag saved his blushes in any case.
Barcelona dominated possession but Alaves, whose fans were in good voice, looked dangerous on the counter.
Sobrino should have netted again when through on goal but fired straight at Ter Stegen, when he might have tried to chip the German.
Barcelona’s best chance of the first half was wasted by Messi, from the penalty spot. Pique went down after being grappled by Rodrigo Ely, but Barcelona’s No 10 was denied by Pacheco from the spot.
Messi came out for the second half looking to prove a point and, after firing an effort narrowly over, opened the scoring.
Andres Iniesta fed Jordi Alba, who cut the ball back into the area. Messi reached it, before firing a deflected strike past Pacheco for his 350th La Liga goal.
Barcelona looked for a second, with Alba coming close when he half-volleyed a strike narrowly over, while Burgui, on loan from Real Madrid, dilly-dallied in the area at the other end and was dispossessed.
Messi nearly grabbed his hat-trick in the 74th minute but hit the crossbar from the edge of the area as Alaves defenders stood and watched.
Paulinho came on for his Barcelona debut as the game closed out, but didn’t have time to make an impact.
