Barcelona 5-1 Alaves: Warmed up perfectly for PSG
The Catalans were sizzling in attack as they walloped the visiting Basques
There was no better way than this to warm up for the clash with Paris Saint Germain. At least in terms of attacking prowess.
Barcelona shredded Alaves going forward, especially after Pedri’s introduction, with Lionel Messi and Trincao scoring two goals each, and Junior Firpo adding the fifth.
At the other end there was a classic error, of the kind we have seen all too much of this season, with Ilaix Moriba giving away the ball on his debut for Rioja to score.
The youngster, however, was otherwise solid and he set up Trincao for the opening goal.
It was an intelligent ball in the box and the Portuguese forward stroked home to open the scoring.
Messi bagged the second goal with a low shot that cracked in off the near post and ended up nestling in the side netting at the far post.
Then Rioja helped Alaves fight back to 2-1 after Ilaix’s misplaced pass, but Barcelona weren’t being stopped.
Riqui Puig moved the ball quickly in midfield, and Pedri was impeccable after he came on. He played a brilliant ball through to Messi, and although Pacheco denied the Argentine, Trincao followed up to make it 3-1.
Then Messi scored another brilliant solo goal, curling home from distance to extend the lead. He was also part of a nice team move which saw Griezmann tee up Junior Firpo for the fifth.
Trincao completed his hat-trick but was offside, the second goal Barca had ruled out for that offence with an earlier Messi strike stricken from the records to the chagrin of Ronald Koeman.
It was one of the only things he could be unhappy about, with this excellent display.
LATEST EPISODE OF THE BEST FC BARCELONA PODCAST IN ENGLISH
Topics with the letter
