Week 22 of the La Liga saw Barcelona visit Vitoria-Gasteiz to take on Deportivo Alaves at the Mendizorroza Stadium. The Catalans came into the game looking for revenge after losing to Deportivo Alaves at the Camp Nou Earlier this season.
Alaves hosted their Copa del Rey final opponents in what was a hammering for the home team as Barcelona netted six to temporarily go ahead of Real Madrid, who will play later this evening. Goals from MSN, Ivan Rakitic and an own goal from Alexis saw Barcelona win comfortably.
However, the scoreline was certainly not an indicator of the bravery of Pellegrino’s Deportivo Alaves and they must take pride from their performance in the first half. Here are five talking points from the game as we discuss this and more:
#1 It took something special to break the defence of Deportivo Alaves
Deportivo Alaves have a reputation of being a fantastic team defensively and had not conceded even a single goal in the first 16 minutes of their 30 games this season. It was more of the same today, despite fielding a much weaker team as Barcelona struggled to break through within the first 30 minutes.
However, it took some magical play from the Catalans to open the scoring. The attack started from one of Sergio Busquets’ simple passes that make things complicated for the opposition, and ended with a good finish off an exquisite cross from Aleix Vidal.
While Barcelona were lucky to hit six today, it will certainly not be the same in the finals. And with their strongest side, Alaves could probably upset the Catalans.
#2 The return of Sergio Busquets
Very often you hear about how underrated Sergio Busquets is as a holding midfielder and this was certainly proved yet again. The Spaniard made his first start since returning from injury and was at the heart of everything good that Barcelona did.
The difference between Busquets and any other player in that position for Barcelona is simply the quality and confidence he brings to the team. The defensive midfielder is a player who plays the tougher pass and makes it look like it was the easier option. He started a number of attacks with his passes for Barcelona, splitting the Alaves defence with ease in the second half.
Barcelona will be delighted to have their ‘Enforcer’ back in the team just when the most important time of the season is about to begin.
#3 Mauricio Pellegrino and Deportivo Alaves can achieve great things
Sitting 12th on the La Liga table are the little club from the Basque Country region of Spain. They first made news this season after shocking Barcelona with a 2-1 victory at the Camp Nou and have been on a fairytale run ever since.
Alaves have been known for their fantastic defensive stats this season but something that defines beyond anything is their gutsy nature that comes from their brave young Argentinian coach Mauricio Pellegrino. Even today, despite going down 2-0, Pellegrino switched things to a 3-man defence looking for a goal. The tactic almost worked as Alaves dominated Barcelona for the first ten minutes of the second half.
However, a slight mistake led to Messi’s goal and the floodgates opened from that moment.
#4 The loss of Aleix Vidal to injury
Just when it seemed like the time was right to replace Sergi Roberto as the first choice right-back with Aleix Vidal, a catastrophe has struck the 27-year-old when he injured his ankle, and has perhaps faced a career-threatening injury. Vidal was in the form of his life with 2 goals and 5 assists in his last 8 games for Blaugrana.
Making Dani Alves-like speedy runs down the right flank and showing a wide range of passing and ability to cross, the Spanish right-back was what Barcelona were looking for after the departure of Dani Alves. But it now looks like he will be out of action for at least a majority of the season and could even be out for much longer.
Even today against Alaves, the right back made a stunning cross for the opener and will be missed by Barcelona. Injuries are certainly cruel. Sergio Busquets summed it up perfectly saying, “Vidal is loved by all of us, this is awful, we feel really bad. The win comes in 2nd place, he comes first.”
#5 Lucas Digne and Jeremy Mathieu have a good game
Both the French defenders who now play for Barcelona had good games this evening after Jordi Alba and Gerrard Pique were given a break. While Lucas Digne was shaky for the first 30 minutes and his sloppy defending almost gave Alaves a goal, he recovered well to end the game on a good note.
On the other hand, Jeremy Mathieu, who has been given limited playing time after Umtiti’s arrival, had a fantastic game and looked composed and strong in defence. His experience proved to be handy as the centre-back ticked all boxes with his performance this afternoon.
Luis Enrique tried something new with Lucas Digne at centre-back for the last few minutes of the game which worked very well with the youngster making a few great tackles. However, with the game already in the bag at 6-0, it will be interesting to watch if he could repeat the same if given a chance with the game still alive.
