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Barcelona reduced the arrears at the top of the table to just two points after seeing off Sevilla 2-0 at the Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan in La Liga.
Ousmane Dembele and Lionel Messi were on target for the visitors as the Blaugrana secured a morale-boosting victory ahead of a crucial league cup tie against the Andalusians.
Having lost 2-0 on their last visit here, Ronaldo Koeman's side had revenge on their minds and made their intentions clear with a dominant performance.
The hosts couldn't replicate their heroics from two weeks ago as they struggled to create many clear-cut opportunities and were largely second best to Barcelona in the game.
Here are the hits and flops from the match:
Hit: Lionel Messi (Barcelona)
Another game, another outstanding performance from Lionel Messi, who was involved in both goals, scoring and assisting once each.
He set up Dembele with a sublime through ball, slicing through Sevilla's defense like a knife through butter, before adding the finishing touches late on.
The Barcelona skipper slalomed past a stream of white shirts inside the box, and after seeing his initial effort parried by Bono, latched onto the loose ball and tapped it into an empty net.
Messi didn't see much of the ball in the match but, when in possession, he was dangerous, threading excellent passes to start counters and tying defenders in knots with his mazy dribbles.
Another man-of-the-match performance from the man himself!
Flop: Alejandro Gomez (Sevilla)
It might sound harsh to pick on someone who's just a few games in with his new club, but 'Papu' Gomez was truly below his best tonight.
The former Atalanta wizard, who joined the Andalusians earlier this month, looked clueless tonight, failing to create anything on the ball and showing little commitment off it.
In fact, he made some of the least touches by any outfield player during the first 45 minutes of the game and failed to muster a single effort at Barcelona's goal, prompting Lopetegui to sub him off at the break.
If you had been following him in Serie A, then you may know what an amazing player he is, just that Gomez may need some more time to settle into the side completely.
Hit: Ousmane Dembele (Barcelona)
Finally a good performance from Ousmane Dembele, and the Frenchman was a big thorn in the side of Sevillans today and on target with a nonchalant finish as well.
With just one goal from his last 16 appearances before the kick-off, the former Borussia Dortmund man seemed unlikely to score today.
However, he broke the deadlock just half an hour into the match, brilliantly racing onto Messi's throughball and then neatly slamming it home from under Bono to give Barcelona the lead.
The 23-year old Frenchman remained a big concern for the hosts for the rest of the evening with his eagerness and off-the-ball committment, even producing some excellent runs in behind.
Flop: Barcelona's health record
With few underperformers in the game, we're forced to look elsewhere here, and what particularly stood out is, Barcelona's poor health record this season, worsened further by fresh injuries.
The Catalans, just like last year, have been riddled with injuries to many first-team stars, and now, they're potentially looking at yet new casualties in the form of Pedri and Ronald Araujo.
Pedri left the field in the second half with slight discomfort, while the Argentinian, who'd only replaced Pique in the 67th minute, too went off injured after only 15 minutes.
One of the best performers for the Catalans in this campaign, Araujo was already out for quite sometime and his return to the fold was a big boost. But now with another knock, he's facing a few more games out, potentially.
Ronald Koeman's first year at the club has been riven with injuries, and it shows no signs of subsiding anytime soon.
Hit: Alejandro Jose Hernández Hernández (Referee)
There were few bright performers in this game, including the referee Alejandro Hernandez himself, who made three big decisions in the game, all of which were right.
The build-up to Dembele's opener saw Clement Lenglet accidentally hit the ball with his arm, but the Frenchman was in full motion in that moment and the handball was completely inadvertent.
He rightfully allowed the goal to stand. Then, Lenglet appeared to have doubled Barcelona's lead with a close-range header in the second half.
However, the Frenchman was marginally offside and the referee was quick to rule it out, just like in Youssef En-Nesyri's case when he had the ball in the back of the net just minutes later.
The Morrocan handled the ball too, but here, it actually helped the striker position himself better and was hence chalked off.
Close calls, but no controversies, as the match official got everything right today.
