Barcelona 4-1 CD Alaves: 4 talking points as Blaugrana cruise to victory | LaLiga 2019/2020

Barcelona ran out 4-1 winners over Alaves at the Camp Nou, with first-half goals from Antoine Griezmann and Arturo Vidal getting them on the way. Alaves midfielder Pere Pons halved the deficit 10 minutes into the second half when he arrived late in the box to nod a pin-point cross by Ruben Duarte past Marc-Andre ter Stegen.

From then on, the visitors grew in confidence and forced Barcelona into some uncharacteristic errors and threatened to level the match, but Lionel Messi was on hand to dash their hopes with a trademark goal in the 69th minute.

Luis Suarez scored a penalty with 15 minutes remaining to put some gloss on the scoreline and here, we shall be highlighting four talking points from the LaLiga fixture.

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#4 Barcelona get back to winning ways

FC Barcelona v Deportivo Alaves - La Liga

The season began in less than ideal circumstances for Barcelona but after some initial wobbles, Ernesto Valverde steadied the ship and got the club marching up to the top of the table. However, their momentum was halted by a resilient Real Sociedad who held Barcelona to a 2-2 draw at the notoriously difficult Anoeta Stadium.

That result was followed with another stalemate, this time to heated rivals Real Madrid and while a draw against their rivals is never acceptable, the fact that it came at Camp Nou in a game which a depleted Los Blancos dominated from start to finish was a bitter pill for the Blaugrismo to swallow.

The game against Alaves offered Barcelona the perfect opportunity to shut naysayers up and they did so perfectly, scoring four goals to get all three points.

Though it was not exactly a vintage performance and there were several occasions when Alaves were on the ascendancy, the victory was exactly what the doctor ordered.

With Sevilla having defeated Mallorca 2-0 away to close the gap, Barcelona's victory reopened their five-point advantage over the Andalusians and unless Real Madrid defeat Athletic Bilbao by five un-replied goals on Sunday, the Blaugrana are guaranteed to end the year atop the standings in LaLiga.

Also check out: La Liga La Liga fixtures La liga table 2019-20

#3 Antoine Griezmann continues his recent fine form

Griezmann was in fine form

After initially struggling to establish himself in the Barcelona ranks, Antoine Griezmann is slowly but surely settling into his rhythm, performing at the levels associated with him over the last few years. He showed great instinct and class to put Barcelona ahead in the 14th minute, finishing off a beautiful team move with a right-footed strike into the bottom corner.

That brought his season total to seven from 22 matches and while not entirely impressive, he has scored three goals in his last four LaLiga matches after drawing blanks in his previous five. The goal also meant that the French international has opened the scoring for Barcelona on six occasions, underlying just how important he is to the Blaugrana cause.

Beyond his goal on the day, Griezmann was also heavily involved in the play and almost had a pair of assists in the first half, first squaring the ball excellently across the middle which narrowly evaded Suarez' outstretched leg, while he also played Lionel Messi in with an audacious backheel.

In the second half, he put the ball in the back of the net with a pristine finish but was correctly adjudged to be offside but as he said in the post-match comments, he is finally settling in and proving his value to fans of the club.

#2 Barcelona's front three come to the party

FC Barcelona v Deportivo Alaves - La Liga

On paper, Barcelona have arguably the best-attacking trio in world football and while they might not have exactly set the world ablaze thus far, their quality cannot be denied. They have shown glimpses of this quality but the frustration for fans has been that it has not come as frequently as it did when the famed 'MSN' terrorized opposition defences at will.

However, it must be remembered that even Neymar, Suarez, and Messi took some time to get going and with Griezmann's improving form, it seems like the latest celebrated front three is getting into gear. As already stated, the former Atletico Madrid man opened the scoring, before his skipper broke a two-game 'drought' when he dribbled past no less than five Alaves defenders before finding the top left corner.

A penalty was awarded soon after that after VAR review deemed that Martín Agirregabiria had handled in the area and Messi magnanimously handed the spot-kick duty to his friend Luis Suarez, who made no mistake from 18 yards out.

With his goal, it meant that all three of Messi, Griezmann, and Suarez got on the scoresheet, marking the 4th time that this has happened this season and brought the total for the trio to 30 goals in the league which means that Barcelona's front three have outscored all clubs in LaLiga apart from Real Madrid and Villareal.

While they might have some way to go before matching the illustrious heights of MSN, Barcelona's latest terrific trio are slowly getting into gear and this would serve as a warning to their rivals domestically and on the continent.

#1 Luis Suarez caps off the year with an all-round display

Suarez had a hand in all four of Barcelona's goals

It is not every time that Lionel Messi is outshone on the field by a teammate or opponent but that was exactly the case in Barcelona's victory over Alaves. Luis Suarez has proven himself as the standout striker of his generation but he has seen heavy criticisms hurled at him in recent years due to his dwindling returns in front of goal and struggles on the continent.

Despite these, the Uruguayan international remains a world-class player of the highest proportion and he reminded everyone of his abilities with a man-of-the-match performance against the Basque side. He set Antoine Griezmann up for the opening goal and made it two assists for the day when he squared for Vidal to put Barcelona 2-0 up with a thumping finish.

There was a third assist registered for Messi's goal and it would have been a major travesty if he did not get his name on the scoresheet after such a fine display. As it happened, Messi's magnanimity ensured that was not the case and Suarez gave a perfect Christmas gift to the millions of Barcelona fans around the world.