Barcelona produce rare good performance with reshuffled side
On a night where the referee’s performance was the poorest, Barcelona came away with all the 3 points with a X-1 win over Celta Vigo at the Camp Nou to go top of the league table. Leo Messi managed to register his first hat-trick of the season.
Like most recent games, Barça were on the back foot in the initial stages of the game. But the Blaugrana recovered over the course of the game despite performing poorly. In the end, Barça managed to get X past Rubén Blanco and win the game.
Lionel Messi opened the scoring in the 23rd minute, after Joseph Aidoo gave away a penalty after a handball off Junior Firpo’s cross. Celta equalised with a brilliant free-kick from Lucas Olaza in the 42nd minute, but Barça had a stunning response to that.
The Argentine maestro scored two free-kicks in a row to complete his hat-trick, and take his tally up to 8 league goals for the season. Both free-kicks were curled into the top right corner with perfection, and Barça were 3-1 up in the 48th minute.
In the second-half, Barça created two more big chances. But both Antoine Griezmann and Lionel Messi failed to convert them. But Griezmann’s miss was a sitter, and the Frenchman was taken off for Luis Suárez after one of his trademark ‘invisible’ performances.
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But it was Sergio Busquets who wrapped up the scoring in the 84th minute. Dembélé’s cross was poorly cleared, and his fellow substitute smashed it into the back of the net on a half-volley. From then, Celta didn’t stand a chance of making a comeback.
Overall, it was a rare good display. Results have not been exceptionally poor, but performances have been. The 4-1 victory against Celta was certainly an improvement, with fringe players like Samuel Umtiti, Junior Firpo and Ousmane Dembélé impressing.
Arthur returned to action after recovering from fatigue, and immediately rejuvenated the midfield. De Jong dazzled the Camp Nou with his dribbling, and Busquets was fantastic. Firpo was better than Jordi Alba has been recently, and made a strong case for more minutes.
Sergi Roberto was also very good, and his partnership with Messi down the right was renewed. Of course, Lionel Messi was the best player on the pitch. He scored 3 goals, and overtook Griezmann as Barça’s highest goalscorer this season.
Valverde’s substitutions worked wonders. All of his changes galvanised the team, starting with the introduction of Busquets for Nélson Semedo in the 23rd minute. The substitution involving Fati and Dembélé was especially impactful.
With his win, Barça went top of the La Liga table, level on points with Real Madrid but with a greater goal difference. That is why this victory is even more important, as Óscar García suffered a poor start to his tenure at Celta, being defeated by his former team.