La Liga 2016/17: Espanyol 0-3 Barcelona, 5 talking points

#2 MSN quiet in the first half

MSN was kept quiet in the first half

Lionel Messi showed glimpses of his class but was closed down fast by Espanyol defenders. Quique Sanchez Flores’s tactics were bang on working as his side refused to give Barcelona’s attacking trio of Messi, Suarez and Neymar any room or freedom to operate.

Apart from a few almost half chances, Espanyol restricted their rivals to very few sights at goal and Barcelona’s trio up front were made to feed off scraps. The first half finished 0-0 with Espanyol’ s game plan working perfectly. However, the second half would be completely different.