Barça 3-0 Eibar: Tale of Two Halves

Good win, boys!

Barcelona will finish the weekend five points clear at the top of the La Liga table thanks to a 3-0 win over Eibar on Sunday. The Blaugrana had a poor first half but absolutely exploded in the second, and goals from Luis Suárez and Lionel Messi (his 400th in the league) led them to a key victory at Camp Nou.

FIRST HALF

From the very first minute it was clear which team was better and more organized on the pitch, and it was not Barcelona. The Blaugrana look slow and the defense was having a lot of trouble dealing with Eibar’s press. The visitors, on the other hand, knew exactly what to do and constantly brought danger thanks to striker Sergi Enrich who proved to be a handful for the Blaugrana.

Fortunately for Barça they have the superior talent, and that came through on a sensational team move with one-touch passing in midfield that ended with a gorgeous one-two between Philippe Coutinho and Luis Suárez and a great goal for the Uruguayan. Barça did not improve after scoring, however, and Eibar continued to create chances and probably deserved at least one goal.

At halftime, Barça needed to play a lot better and score more goals to secure the win.

SECOND HALF

Barça were instantly better to start the second half, passing the ball more quickly and pressing higher and with more intensity. They also got an early goal, which always helps, when Suárez and Coutinho recovered the ball high up the pitch and found Lionel Messi; the captain did the rest, and it was 2-0 for Barça. Five minutes later Sergi Roberto took a quick throw-in and found Suárez inside the box, and the Uruguayan made it three with a very nice finish.

The game was over with half an hour to go, which didn't look likely after the poor first half. But Barça showed strength and played much better, and continued looking for more goals while Ernesto Valverde made a few substitutions with the next Levante game in mind. Ousmane Dembélé came on and unleashed hell on the Eibar defense, but unfortunately none of his amazing runs led to a goal.

The final whistle came, and Barça are five points clear at the top of the table again. Bad first half, crazy good second. Well done, boys.

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Barcelona: Ter Stegen; Roberto (Semedo), Piqué, Lenglet, Alba; Rakitic, Busquets (Vidal), Arthur (Dembélé); Messi, Suárez, Coutinho

Goals: Suárez (19’, 59’), Messi (53’)

Eibar: Riesgo; Peña, Arbilla, Bigas, Ángel; Escalante (Kike), Diop, Jordán; Orellana, Enrich (Cardona), Cucurella (De Blasis)

Goals: None

Source: barcablaugranes.com