Paulinho finds his place at FC Barcelona

Barcelona midfielder Paulinho Bezerra has found his place at Barcelona, despite the outcry when he was signed. He has become important for Ernesto Valverde. In just a few months he's won over the fans, who were asking why a player from the Chinese Super League was being brought in for a big price.

Against Celta he showed his versatility and ability to appear everywhere, participating in Barcelona attacks and defensive phases. He is tricky for defences to handle and linked up well with Messi as shown by his assist for the opening goal. 

He lacked finishing though, failing with three chances to score. One in the first half with a header in the 35th minute, and two in the second period. The first of those was in the 47th minute, when he rounded the goalkeeper but hit the side netting. 

Then later he had a chance from around 12 yards out but was off-target. 

In the absence of Ousmane Dembele, Paulinho has found his place in Valverde's 4-4-2. The Brazilian has participated in each game bar the first, which was for beaurocratic reasons.

This was his second consecutive start in the league, a first this season -- let's see what happens when Dembele returns.