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Goalscorers: Paco Alcacer 8' Lionel Messi 30'
It was an evening of matter-of-fact football from the Catalan giants as they strolled past a leaden-footed Athletic Bilbao who never got going on the night.
It took Barcelona all of 8 minutes to score as they caught the Athletic Bilbao defenders napping inside the area, with Paco Alcacer opening the scoring from a Jordi Alba cut back.
Barcelona weaved their magic at the Camp Nou for a bit and Philippe Coutinho hit the woodwork before Lionel Messi smashed an absolute peach into the bottom corner from right outside the box.
Coutinho and Paulinho would then test the timber with a shot each, but they spent the rest of the night sitting back without getting forced out of their comfort zone.
They inched closer to the La Liga title and kept their undefeated run in tact and here are the 5 talking points from the game:
#5 The future is bright for Barcelona
Barcelona were written off as looking like a tattered vessel before the season even started rolling. But fast forward 7 months and they look more sorted than any of the biggies in Europe.
There is Ousmane Dembele rollicking about the right wing. Philippe Coutinho is gleefully settling into life at the Camp Nou and in the absence of Nelson Semedo, Sergi Roberto is growing into a force to reckon with for Ernesto Valverde.
Samuel Umtiti is a rock-solid presence at the back and this Barcelona side can boast of having an enviable balance of experience and the exuberance of youth.
Paco Alcacer has also made the most of the chances that he has been afforded and even though he might still not be on the same level as his illustrious teammates, he took the one glorious chance early on in the game with great composure and precision to back it to open the scoring for Barcelona.
It will be a ridiculously difficult task breaking down this Barcelona side and it could just continue to be so for a very long time.
#4 A tame Athletic Bilbao set themselves up to be swept away
A part of Valverde's heart might harbour a bit of pain tonight as the same team he guided to Spanish Super Cup glory by schooling this Barcelona side 4-0 at the San Mames stadium looks a shadow of their former self 3 years later.
After tonight's defeat, they've slipped into the 13th place on the La Liga table and are having a terrible run in an already poor season.
The Athletic defence was often caught at sixes and sevens as Leo Messi and co. tested their mettle without offering a break. Paco Alcacer scored from near the penalty spot as Jordi Alba cut the ball back to him but even though there were 3 Bilbao defenders in the box, nobody was picking up the 24-year-old striker.
Ziganda's team look disjointed and are hardly showing any signs of getting any better in the recent future.
#3 No Busquets, no Suarez; no problem
Athletic Bilbao will have looked at this fixture and felt encouraged by the fact that they will not have to deal with the threat of Luis Suarez up front. Add to that the fact that Ernesto Valverde's midfield general Sergio Busquets was going to miss out due to injury.
Ironically though, it is perhaps their replacements that made the difference on the day at the Camp Nou. Ivan Rakitic shifted positions and played at the heart of midfield and put in a shift and then some to calm any nerves that may have popped up owing to Busquets' absence.
He absolutely relished the chance to play anchorman and helped out in defence just as well as he did in attack. The Croat was often found sweeping deep and winning the ball back and thereby nullifying several Athletic Bilbao attacks before they could come to anything.
Paco Alcacer delivered on the one night he was asked to and though it's a bit frustrating for him at Barcelona, you get the feeling that Alcacer's time is set to become better.
#2 Aduriz and Williams should have started for Athletic Bilbao
In a team that looked gravely lacking in the creative department, Ziganda bafflingly chose to rest two of their most creatively capable players- Aritz Aduriz and Inaki Williams.
The evening worked out in a better manner than it should have for Ziganda however as Barcelona could only put 2 past them.
Besides that, Athletic Bilbao never really tested ter Stegen or forced him to do anything of note as they moved about all laboured and uninspired like only college students should on a Sunday after a Saturday of heavy drinking.
But as soon as Aduriz and Williams were introduced, Athletic Bilbao looked far better going forward and they were, in the very least, running at the Umtiti and Pique or hoofing the ball into the centre and getting the shot away.
#1 Lionel Messi combining well with Coutinho but the woodwork curse remains
When players like Coutinho and Messi get into their groove, football is just great to watch. It was a treat watching Neymar and Messi wreaking havoc in Spain and gutting oppositions like ruthless trappers.
Coutinho was always expected to fit in easily at Barcelona thanks to his impeccable technique and passing range. But what is really reassuring for the fans of the Cules will be how efficiently Lionel Messi has created an understanding with the Brazilian.
The duo was often seen playing off of each other and Messi seemed to easily understand what the Brazilian was up to more often than not. This is exactly what the doctor ordered at the Camp Nou in the aftermath of the much celebrated departure of Neymar.
Messi enjoyed himself so much he even broke out into a disco routine rather surprisingly after scoring his goal, much to the amusement of the Camp Nou.
Meanwhile, Barcelona's woodwork curse looks like its here to stay. Though it came to their help 4 times over the 2 legs against Chelsea, it denied them thrice on the evening as Philippe Coutinho was denied twice and Paulinho once.
Barcelona have hit the woodwork a whopping 38 times this season with Lionel Messi being the unluckiest of the lot after being denied 16 times in all this season.
If you missed it, here is Leo Messi having some twisted fun.
