Barcelona vs Alaves: Lionel Messi inspires Blaugrana to 4-1 win over Babazorros

Saturday, December 21, 2019 at 8:18 PM by Oluwatomiwa Babalola

- Barcelona vs Alaves La Liga clash ended in favour of the Catalans

- A goal each from Griezmann, Suarez, Messi and Vidal handed Valverde's men the victory

- They will, however, hope to retain their top spot for the rest of 2019

Barcelona cruised to 4-1 convincing victory over Deportivo Alaves in their last La Liga match of the year 2019.

The victory came on the back-to-back draws against Real Sociedad and Real Madrid in the last seven days.

Coach Ernesto Valverde's men also have the chance to remain atop of the table heading into the new year except if Los Blancos win their game against Athletic Bilbao with a wide goal margin.

Barca got the game off to a bright start but their effort through team captain Lionel Messi was denied by the opponents in the first ten minutes.

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Summer signing Antoine Griezmann then went ahead to put the home team ahead with an unstoppable strike from the edge of the 18-yard box.

The Frenchman ran into space to connect with Luis Suarez's cross from the right flank and sent the ball into the bottom right corner of the post.

Both sides continued to size each other up but no one was bold enough to find the back of the net until the 45th minute when Arturo Vidal doubled his side's lead.

Suarez was also credited with the assist as the Chilean forward fired home from close range to give the home team a two-goal advantage heading into the dressing room for half time.

Alaves reduced their deficit eleventh minute into the second half with a stunning header from Pere Pons having connected with Ruben Duarte's cross.

Samuel Umtiti and Mubarak Wakaso were both awarded yellow cards in the 67th minute after throwing harsh tackles.

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And just two minutes later, Lionel Messi launched a superb long-range shot into the left side of the net to restore his side's two-goal lead in the 69th minute.

Once again, Suarez provided the assist for Barca's third goal after connecting well with the Argentine after a mix-up moments before the goal was scored.

The Uruguayan forward then recorded his name on the scores sheet in the 75th minute through a VAR assisted penalty.

Meanwhile, Messi's goal stretched his tally in this calendar year to 50 as he heads to his home country for the Christmas break.

Valverde's men return to action on January 4, 2020, when they battle Espanyol in the second stanza of the season.

Legit.ng earlier reported that Asisat Oshoala scored her eighth goal of the season in Barcelona Femeni's 3-1 victory over Granadilla at the Johan Cryuff Arena on Saturday.