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A magical Lionel Messi freekick marked an incredible 6,000 LaLiga goals for Barcelona and sent La Blaugrana on their way to a comfortable opening day victory against Alaves at the Nou Camp.
It has now been over a decade since Barca failed to win their opening fixture in LaLiga and in truth, the 3-0 scoreline could and should have been much greater.
The home side started the match with somewhat of a surprising first XI. Coutinho started on the bench while Sergio Roberto took his place on the right side of midfield with Nelson Semedo behind him in defense.
Regardless, this was a very strong team and one which began the match on the front foot against an extremely defensive Alaves side. The first half produced numerous half chances, but no goals as Barcelona dominated possession without finding a way past the El Glorioso's defensive lines.
However, the match changed midway through the second half when Messi stepped up to take a freekick just outside the box. The Alaves wall expected the Argentinian to hit the ball high, but instead, Barcelona's new captain slipped the ball under the wall to give his team the lead.
Alaves had to go on the attack after falling behind and Barcelona punished them twice more with goals from substitute, Coutinho, and a second from Messi securing a very comfortable 3-0 win in front of a packed home crowd.
The game finished with Barcelona having 25 shots on goal compared to Alaves' three and securing an incredible 78% of possession over the 90 minutes plus injury time.
Below are three reasons why Barcelona thoroughly dominated the Basque club at the Nou Camp.
#3 Alaves' Deep Defensive Lines
Alaves set out with one aim in this game - to keep a clean sheet. Abelardo played a 4-5-1 formation with the aim of packing the midfield and defensive lines to reduce time and space for Barcelona's skillful attackers.
The plan worked for most of the match. Despite having just 22% of the ball in the first half, Alaves entered the break with a clean sheet and a 0-0 scoreline. They managed just one shot on goal in the first half which failed to trouble Ter Stegen and made only 112 passes compared to Barcelona's 419 in the opening 45 minutes.
Due to the deep defensive set up by the visitors, the Catalans dominated play throughout the match. They were slightly sluggish off the mark however and managed only two shots on target during the opening period despite having a lot of the ball.
It took a moment of brilliance from Messi to break the deadlock after the hour mark and encourage Alaves to come out of their shell. After the first goal, the discipline in the Basque club's defense slipped and allowed Barcelona to break through twice more.
La Blaugrana will endure many more games like this at the Nou Camp this season and are sure to be happy they managed to get all three points against a stubborn defensive side.
#2 Messi's Brilliance
Messi produced yet another man of the match display in helping his boyhood club get off to a winning start in LaLiga. The new captain showed that he still has the drive and hunger to win trophies at the Nou Camp and if he continues in this form for the rest of the season will surely collect a host of personal accolades throughout the year.
Barcelona had all the play but failed to breakthrough a well-disciplined Alaves defense for over an hour. By the time the clock had ticked past the 60-minute mark, there was a growing feeling that it would take a moment of magic to break the deadlock.
Messi had almost produced an opening goal in the first half when he slipped a ball over the Alaves defense for Suarez to run on to, but a lack of ball control from the Uruguayan spurned the opportunity.
A freekick from the Argentinian towards the end of the first half hit the woodwork and Messi could have been forgiven for thinking it might not be his day. However, in the 64th minute, 31-year-old stepped up for another free-kick a little closer to goal and slipped the ball under the wall to give Barca the lead.
Messi added to his tally in injury time, after playing the role of chief creator in setting up Coutinho a few minutes previously only for Alaves goalkeeper, Pacheco to produce a fine save.
His first LaLiga game as official captain of Barcelona was simply outstanding and Messi clearly remains the most important player La Blaugrana's squad for the new season.
#1 Squad Depth
As the first half ended with the scores tied at 0-0, Barcelona had the luxury of looking to a bench filled with envious talent. Jasper Cilessen, Clement Lenglet, Artur, Rafinha Alcantara, Arturo Vidal, Philippe Coutinho, and Malcom were all waiting for their chance in this game.
Barcelona manager, Valverde opted for the introduction of Coutinho at the break after surprisingly leaving the Brazilian out of the starting XI. The club's record signing linked up with another player who came off the bench, Artur, to score Barca's second goal of the game in the 83rd minute and ensure the victory.
Arturo Vidal also enjoyed his Nou Camp debut, coming on after 85 minutes for Sergio Busquets. While his few minutes on the pitch doesn't provide any analysis of how he might contribute to La Blaugrana this season, it demonstrates the sheer strength in depth at the disposal of Valverde.
Malcom and Lenglet will have to wait for their debuts, but their chance will no doubt come over the next few weeks.
Looking at this performance in combination with the players who didn't even make it into the team should send fear across the country to Madrid, where Real and Atletico may wish they had such talent at their disposal.
