Barca 4-1 Huesca: Catalans stay hot on Atletico's tail

Barca 4-1 Huesca: Catalans stay hot on Atletico's tail

Messi hit a brace while Mingueza and Griezmann were also on target

This wasn’t the best Barcelona performance of the year but the goals were good and so was the result. And the league table looks good too, with the Catalans climbing to within four points of Atletico Madrid. Very much hay Liga.

Barcelona weren’t playing especially well, when Messi picked up the ball in the 13th minute. The Argentine forward turned brilliantly, took one touch to set himself and curled a perfect precision strike into the top corner, in off the bar.

It was genius, and nearly replicated by Antoine Griezmann in the 35th minute, who also found the top corner from distance with a curler of his own.

Barca were pegged back just before the break when Rafa Mir was awarded a bizarre penalty, as Ter Stegen’s arm brushed him. The striker slotted it home to give the bottom club hope.

However Oscar Mingueza ended that in the 53rd minute when he headed in Messi’s cross to make it 3-1.

Koeman brought on various substitutes in a second half that was more of a procession than anything else, although Mir missed a golden chance when he shouldered the ball over from a yard out. Maybe he felt bad about the penalty.

Messi completed the rout at the death with another long range effort, but this one was deflected.

“To play with Messi is amazing, I enjoy it in the games but also in training,” said Pedri. “I always try to look for him, if you give it to him, something will happen.”

It’s been Barcelona’s tactic for far too long. That is changing but this was an occasion on which Messi shone head and shoulders above the rest.

What a way to mark his 767th game for Barcelona - levelling the record set by his former team-mate Xavi Hernandez.

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