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A brace from Lionel Messi and Antoine Griezmann helped Barcelona to a 4-0 victory over Granada at the Los Carmanes.
The hosts fashioned the first chance of the game as early as the second minute, with a quick counterattack ending with Antonio Puertas forcing a save from Marc-Andre ter Stegen with a shot from outside the box.
Granada were made to rue that miss not long after, as a well-placed finish by Griezmann helped put Barcelona ahead in the 12th minute.
The France international had been in an offside position when the ball was played in but despite heavy protests by the home side, VAR replays showed that the ball had deflected off Roberto Soldado into his path.
Puertas had another chance to get on the scoresheet when he found himself one-on-one with Ter Stegen but he shot straight at the Barcelona goalkeeper, although a raised offside flag spared him the blushes.
A well-worked goal saw Griezmann and Messi combine on the edge of the Granada box, with the latter firing a left-footed strike into the top-corner in the 35th minute.
There were once again complaints to the referee for a handball and although replays showed that the ball came off Sergio Busquet's hand in the buildup, amendments to the handball rule meant that the goal stood.
The Barcelona skipper got his brace seven minutes later, with an ingenious freekick from 20 yards going under the Granada wall and beyond the dive of Rui Silva to put Barcelona 3-0 up.
The second half was pretty much a matter of cruise control for Barcelona but they still fashioned several chances which went begging until Griezmann converted a pass from his compatriot Ousmane Dembele with a right-footed strike from an acute angle.
A late red card was shown to Jesus Vallejo for a dangerous lunge from behind on Martin Braithwaite, which piled more misery for Diego Martinez' men.
The defeat was Granada's 7th of the campaign and saw them lose further ground on Sevilla in the race for European qualification.
Here, we shall be having a rundown of five talking points from the fixture.
#5 Impressive Barcelona put up best performance in a long while
After some testing opening months in the campaign, Barcelona have slowly started to resemble an elite side in LaLiga and this victory over Granada made it eight games without a defeat for them in the Spanish top-flight.
They controlled proceedings from start to finish, and apart from some early scares, they were never really in danger of conceding, while their attack looked as sharp as it has all season.
Frenkie de Jong, Pedri, and Sergio Busquets were dominant in the middle, Griezmann, Messi, and Dembele combined well up front, and it was a very comfortable victory for the Blaugrana.
In many ways, this was arguably their best and most comprehensive performance since their 4-0 win over Villarreal on matchday two and Ronald Koeman would be hoping that his side keeps the run going.
The win makes it three league victories in a row for Barcelona and they currently sit third on the table, four points behind table-toppers Atletico Madrid who still have a couple of games in hand.
It might still be too early to say that the Catalans have joined the title race, and three consecutive victories does not erode their atrocious displays some weeks ago, but on the evidence of their play here, this is still a quality side that just needs to maintain consistency.
#4 Poor Granada fail to cover themselves in glory
Granada have been one of the revelations of LaLiga in recent years, capped by securing European football for the first time in their history last season.
They have kept their good form going in the current campaign and came into this fixture in 7th spot, with hopes of keeping pace with Sevilla in sixth place.
Considering the Blaugrana's struggles this season, El Graná would have fancied their chances of getting something in this clash and would have been buoyed by the reverse game last season that ended in a 2-0 victory for them.
The hosts started on the front foot but that was as good as it got for Martinez' side, with Barcelona controlling proceedings after going ahead.
Granada has just 27% possession and there was hardly a single player that distinguished themselves for the hosts, and Rui Silva - who conceded with all four shots he faced on target - and Jesus Vallejo - who received a red card after coming on at halftime, would not look back on this game fondly.
#3 Antoine Griezmann puts out on of his best performances in a Barcelona shirt
Having endured a lukewarm start to his Barcelona career, Antoine Griezmann did not seem to have any better luck at the start of his second season and came into this clash having not scored since 2 December last year.
In the buildup to the game, Ronald Koeman backed the France international and stated that goals were the ' best medicine' to boost Griezmann's confidence.
As it happened, the France international ended the game with a brace, while he also provided the assist for Messi's first goal.
He might have been slow to get back in an onside position in the lead-up to the opener, but he showed his instincts to take advantage of Soldado's poor clearance to put Barcelona ahead.
That gave him the boost he needed and the former Atletico Madrid man proved to be a thorn in the side of the Granada defense for the rest of the game, with his second goal showing his increased confidence in the game.
In many ways, this was unarguably Griezmann's best performance in a Barcelona shirt this season and with key games coming up in three competitions, it could be a case of perfect timing for the 29-year-old.
#2 Riqui Puig impresses in brief cameo
Riqui Puig emerged as one of the highest-rated players in the La Masia academy and he had his breakthrough campaign last season where he was integrated into the first-team post lockdown.
It was expected that Ronald Koeman would rely on the 21-year-old but that has not been the case and he spoke about the midfielder heading out on loan in his press conference for this fixture.
With the result already guaranteed against Granada, Puig entered the fray for Dembele with just 17 minutes left but he still showed enough quality to justify calls among Barcelona fans for him to be included more often.
The La Masia product ended the game with a 90.9% passing accuracy and a particular run of play where he used his chest control to evade the tackle of two Granada players showed his immense potential.
By all indications, Riqui Puig does not appear to have a future at Barcelona under Koeman, but his 17-minute cameo against Granada showed that fans who clamor for his inclusion are well within their rights to do so.
#1 Lionel Messi getting back to his majestic best
The current campaign started on a sour note for Messi, as off-field issues affected his performance on the field for Barcelona.
However, the Argentina international has been the mastermind of his side's recent upturn in fortunes and having been given an extended Christmas break to deal with an ankle problem, the 33-year-old has come back rejuvenated.
He could only register an assist as Barcelona dispatched Huesca 1-0 in their first game of the new year, but Messi has since been among the goals, with consecutive braces scored against Athletic Bilbao and Granada.
Both goals at Los Carmenes were indicative of his rediscovered form, with the fist coming from an inventive free-kick that was taken beneath the wall - this was his 48th direct free-kick for Barcelona in all competitions, with 37 of them coming in LaLiga.
His second came from a trademark left-footed shot from the edge of the area, with the excellent range of his shooting on full display.
With Barcelona playing in some decisive games in the coming weeks, Koeman understandably did not want to take any risks with his captain and took him off for a well-deserved rest with 25 minutes left.
The brace takes Lionel Messi to 11 LaLiga goals for the season, one clear of Gerard Moreno in the race for the Pichichi, and fans of Barcelona will be hoping that their talisman can continue performing at the levels expected of him.
