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Score : SD Eibar 0 - 2 FC Barcelona
Scorers : Luis Suarez 16' Jordi Alba 88'
The La Liga leaders stretched their advantage to 10 points at the top with a hard-fought victory against the side placed 7th in the table. Suarez and Abla scored for the Catalans as the defence managed to keep yet another clean sheet.
The tiny club from Northern Spain put up a performance worthy of recognition as they made sure that the reigning champions were switched on from the first whistle to the last.
It ended 0-2 with Barcelona taking all three points back to the Nou Camp.
#5 The hosts failed to capitalise on the pressure they managed to create on the leaders
Barcelona were expecting a hard-fought battle to claim three points as they travelled to the Ipurua Municipal Stadium, and that's exactly what they got. The side flying high in the league table currently, were rapidly out of the blocks as they pushed the Champions deep inside their own half in the opening exchanges.
The hosts had a few half chances in the opening 10 minutes with the visitors hardly getting a foot on the ball, except when Suarez found himself one on one with the keeper and went around him before laying the ball into the path of Alba, whose eventual shot was blocked by the defence, which had managed to get back.
Eibar continued to pepper the Barcelona penalty box with crosses and headers (none really troubling the keeper), until the Argentinian magician finally found himself on the ball in the 16th minute and played a defence-splitting pass to Luis Suarez who rounded the keeper again but managed to put the ball in the back of the net, this time around.
The Spanish side refused to throw in the towel and continued into the second half much like they had in the first. Barcelona were on the back-foot for most of the second half as well, failing to impose themselves on the game like they so often do.
Eibar pressed on despite going down to 10 men around the hour mark - Fabián Orellana getting a second yellow for dissent. They were finally put to bed by Jodi Alba who made it two.
#4 Messi looked irritable in the sky blue for Barcelona
We wonder if it was the decapacitating colour that Barcelona were donning or the lack of ball time, that made 'The Best Player in the World' look indifferent to the cause. Messi had a fairly disappointing game for the Catalans as Eibar managed to keep the genius under wraps.
Messi got a brief moment on the ball in the 16th minute and that was enough.
He played a ball in behind the defence for the onrushing Luis Suarez. The ball had recovery (which only the likes of Ronnie O' Sullivan can conjure up with his cue), as it straightened out once it had outdone the defence, perfectly into the path of the Uruguayan, who went past the keeper and passed the ball into an open net.
The Argentine came terribly close to scoring as he struck the post from an almost impossible angle.
He had a few more moments in the match in which he looked more like his usual self, but failed to find the back of the net. Goalless in the last 3 outings in the league, Barcelona will be hoping that their talisman can get back to his best before their round of 16 tie against Chelsea in the Champions League.
#3 Eibar's Asian star Takashi Inui impressed on the night
SD Eibar had players in their side that caught the eye with decent performances and had a fair say in the match. Refusing to go down easily at the hands of the leaders, the minnows showed grit and determination keeping Marc-André ter Stegen busy in goal.
The Japanese played on the left and kept linking up with Fabián Orellana on the right, with the latter striking the bar soon after his team went behind.
Takashi Inui was always looking to get on the ball and affect the game and played some delightful passes for his teammates who failed to find the target repeatedly. That was the difference between the two sides on the day, the ability to finish off the moves that both teams were putting together.
The Asian in the Eibar side also had a few shots on goal but none rippled the net, in spite of which the 29-year-old had one of his more memorable games.
#2 Barcelona managed to grind out a result
Barcelona were far from their best at Eibar as they faced stiff opposition from the Spanish side, who refused to succumb to the Barcelona style of play. If anything, the 7th placed side in the league, didn't allow the leaders to apply themselves on the pitch and fought them for every inch of it.
In the last few weeks, the form of the champions has dipped with their main man failing to get on the score sheet, but even in these matches, the game-management displayed by Ernesto Valverde's side will please the coach a great deal.
Some assistance from the referee in sending off Orellana - a second yellow for whacking the ball away with his hand after the game had stopped for a foul - certainly helped Barcelona. The referee was quick to brandish a yellow card for the Chilean and might have held off in hindsight.
It was an uphill task for Eibar after the sending off. The Catalans played within themselves, never let their opponents back in the game and even added a late second to seal the result.
#1 Invincible?
The Spanish giants are tantalisingly close to going undefeated throughout the league season. With only about one-third of the season remaining, no side in the Spanish league has managed to beat the runaway leaders. Can they go unbeaten, is a question that has been troubling the book-makers for a while now.
Only recently, their former manager, Pep Guardiola, led Manchester City on a 22-match unbeaten run before finally succumbing to Jurgen Klopp's Liverpool. The Gunners will be hoping that someone manages to stop this Barcelona juggernaut before the end of the season since the only team to achieve the feat has been the Arsenal side in '03/04.
Far from their best on the day, and still managing a 0-2 victory is eerily similar to the North London side of '03/04, drawing when they deserve to lose and winning when they deserve to draw.
Truly impressive form a side widely believed to be in a tough situation with Neymar heading to France last summer. Can they go a step further and emulate the 'INVINCIBLES'?
Your guess is as good as mine.
