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Barcelona hosted mid-table Celta Vigo at the Camp Nou, in what was the last game for both sides this year. The Catalans cruised to a 2-0 win to cap off a successful calendar year on a winning note.
Ousmane Dembele opened the scoring inside ten minutes when he converted after Lionel Messi's shot rebounded to his feet. Messi doubled Barcelona's lead when he latched on to Alba's through pass on the stroke of half-time. His finish from close range meant that the home side was at relative ease going into the interval.
Barcelona held on to their lead in the second half and clinched a relatively comfortable win. The win gave them a three-point buffer at the top of the table, as Atletico are hot on their trail after their win early in the day. Sevilla could cut the gap to three as well if they win against Leganes on Sunday. Celta meanwhile, are currently 10th in the table after the loss.
On that note, here are the major talking points from the game.
#5 Barcelona cruise to the three points in first gear
Barcelona can surely play better than they did against Celta. But the fact is, they didn't need to. The home side got an early goal and was not really pushed by their opponents to take it up a notch for the rest of the game.
The possession dropped considerably for Barca, and so did the efforts on goal. Both Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez were static for long periods in the game, and they were clinical from the attacking forays the managed.
The game was slow in pace, and any sort of intensity was lacking. Perhaps Christmas and New Year's celebrations were already taking shapes in the minds of some.
#4 Aspas and Gomez fail to get their act going
Celta Vigo have the services of one of the best striker duos in the league. Iago Aspas and Maxi Gomez have scored 18 goals between them for their side, along with 6 assists as well. Only two sides can better Celta's 28 league goals this season. But they failed to reproduce that form against Barcelona.
The duo of Gomez and Aspas completed just 46 passes in the game and had just 2 shots on the Barcelona goal. Aspas was hauled off before the hour mark due to an injury, which further blunted the Celta attack.
Aspas and Gomez have scored 64% of their team's goals, so Miguel Cardoso naturally depends heavily on them. But they did not get into their groove against Barcelona, which went a long way in impacting the final result.
#3 Iniesta watches on as Vidal succeeds him in midfield
The legendary Andres Iniesta left Barcelona in the summer, and who will replace him was a matter of huge interest at the club. Philippe Coutinho looked primed to take over after his big-money move from Liverpool. Then it looked like his compatriot Arthur might make the jump. But both of them have been pushed to the sidelines in recent weeks, due to the rise or Arturo Vidal.
Valverde likes solidity in midfield, and Vidal has provided it admirably. The Chilean is a hard worker and gives physicality to Barca in the middle of the park. Remember a certain Paulinho?
Both Coutinho and Arthur started the game on the bench. Arguably both of them fits into the Barca mould better than Vidal due to their passing and technical abilities. But Vidal looks to have cemented that place for now, and he carried out the role ably under the eyes of predecessor Iniesta.
#2 Alba and Messi's chemistry is unparalleled
Since Neymar's departure for PSG last summer, Jordi Alba has turned into a different beast. He has enjoyed greater freedom to bomb forward, which has enabled him to striker a deadly partnership with Lionel Messi.
Both the goals against Celta came by virtue of said partnership. For the first goal. Messi and Alba combined for an exchange of passes before Dembele scored from the rebound. Then Alba found Messi with a defense-splitting through pass to double the lead.
Under Valverde, Barca have played without an orthodox left winger quite often. This has given the attacking responsibilities on the left to Alba. Messi naturally cuts inside onto his left foot from the right side, and the first player he looks for is Alba. You would think that it must have become predictable by now, but as this game showed, it has not.
#1 Celta fail to make a dent despite their possession
Normally Barcelona dominate the possession stats in their games. Their average ball possession in the LaLiga this season is 61.2%, which is the highest. But Celta did not concede the ball to such extent, as they held on to it quite well.
The problem for Miguel Cardoso was that they failed to do much with it. Celta had 48% of possession in the game, but they managed just one effort on target. They had 172 passes in the final third compared to 152 for Barca, but Marc-Andre ter Stegen had just one save to make.
The final pass was lacking for the visitors, and they failed to convert their territorial dominance into anything worthwhile. They kept the ball well enough but lacked any sort of incision. As a result, the Barcelona backline was relatively comfortable for the duration of the game.
