Barcelona 4-1 CD Alaves: 5 players who impressed for the Catalans | LaLiga 2019-20

Barcelona got back to winning ways after two consecutive stalemates, dispatching Alaves 4-1 in front of a half-full Camp Nou. The win saw the Catalans consolidate their spot at the top of the league standings and ensured they signed off the decade with a convincing victory.

Although the overall performance left a lot to be desired, Barcelona did enough to put daylight between them and their Basque opponents and Ernesto Valverde would have been impressed with the displays of a number of his players.

In this piece, we shall be highlighting five players who played a key role in the convincing victory enjoyed by the Blaugrana.

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#5 Sergio Busquets

Barcelona v Real Sociedad - Copa del Rey

Sergio Busquets has proved his value to the Barcelona cause throughout his career and it can be argued that after Lionel Messi, the Sabadell native is the next most important player to the Catalans' success on the field.

Having been dropped from the starting XI against Real Madrid (for reasons later revealed to be a virus), the Spanish international was restored to the starting lineup against Alaves and he was back to what he does best, acting as a shield for the defence and being the first line of attack.

Busquets went about his business in his normal unassuming way and while he might have been outshone by his more attack-minded teammates, keen observers of the game would not underestimate his importance to Barcelona's victory over Alaves.

In total, he made three successful interceptions and one tackle, while he was also the instigator of many attacks and offered on-field direction and guidance to the younger Carlos Alena who was afforded a rare start alongside him. The 31-year-old was substituted for Frenkie de Jong with 11 minutes remaining and the ovation he got from the crowd was indicative of the value he added to Barcelona in the game.

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

#4 Lionel Messi

FC Barcelona v Deportivo Alaves - La Liga

Coming into this fixture, Lionel Messi found himself in the unfamiliar position of having not scored for two consecutive matches. For many players, that is a fairly normal routine but Messi is far from normal and a two-game drought is enough to start ringing alarm bells over a supposed dip in form.

For most of the game against Alaves, the Argentine international was crowded out in the middle and struggled to influence proceedings, with Manu Garcia and Pere Pons limiting the space afforded him.

That all changed in the 69th minute when Luis Suarez set him free and despite being crowded out by no less than five blue shirts, the Barcelona skipper still found a way to dilly dally around them and place an unstoppable shot into the top corner for his 13th goal of the campaign.

There was a chance to record a brace but Messi showed great camaraderie to let Luis Suarez get on the scoresheet and despite not being at his best, the Rosario native still did enough to play a part in a routine victory for his side.

#3 Arturo Vidal

FC Barcelona v Deportivo Alaves - La Liga

The abundance of talent in the Barcelona midfield means that competition for places is intense and everyone must make good use of whatever opportunity afforded him. That happened to be the case when Arturo Vidal was started against Alaves and he capped a fine performance with a well-taken goal.

This was just his third league start of the season but the Chilean was not short of confidence and this was reflected in the fact that he elected to shoot from an acute angle although he could have squared the ball to two teammates in the box.

The goal was Vidal's 4th of the campaign and although there are speculations that he could be on his way out of the club at the end of the season, the former Juventus man showed that he has a lot to offer to Barcelona's cause this season.

#2 Antoine Griezmann

Griezmann got his 6th goal of the season

Antoine Griezmann opened the scoring against Alaves with a fine right-footed finish to bring his tally to the season to six and three in his last four games. The French international has grown in stature in recent weeks and was full of confidence against Alaves, unafraid of taking the initiative and not second-guessing his every move as was the case in the early period of his Barcelona career.

He combined well with both Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez on several occasions while he is fast developing a burgeoning on-field connection on the left of Barcelona's attack with Jordi Alba.

The 28-year-old had the ball in the back of the net for a second time but was rightly ruled out for offside and while he still misplaced several passes in key areas, it cannot be argued that Griezmann is coming good at the right time for Barcelona.

#1 Luis Suarez

Luis Suarez was the man-of-the-match

Luis Suarez was named the man-of-the-match against Alaves and rightly so, as the Uruguayan had direct involvement in all four of Barcelona's goals on the day. He combined brilliantly with Vidal on the right flank before setting Griezmann up with a perfect one-touch square ball into the box for Barcelona's opener and registered another assist when he deftly deflected the ball to Vidal to put his team 2-0 up.

It was a hat-trick of assists for Suarez in the 69th minute after playing Lionel Messi in and the Argentine international returned the favour by passing up the penalty for Luis Suarez to take six minutes later.

His display on the night means that Luis Suarez now has 10 goals and six assists from 16 LaLiga games this night and while he might still have his detractors, nobody can deny that he is still a crucial member of Valverde's squad.