Barcelona eventually found a way to break through a stubborn and deep-lying Alaves defence on Saturday night. They'd been frustrated for the first hour, but Lionel Messi then scored from a free-kick, before Philippe Coutinho added a second and Messi then put a ribbon on the victory with another goal in stoppage time.

Alaves set up in a very defensive 4-5-1 formation, with Ruben Sobrino left on his own up top. Barcelona essentially camped out inside the Alaves half, but found it tricky to create clear-cut chances.

Their best chance of the first half was when they won a free-kick just outside the penalty area in the 37th minute, which Lionel Messi struck against the woodwork.

That seemed to motivate Barcelona further and there were a couple of chances created for Ousmane Dembele before the break, but he couldn't take them.

Philippe Coutinho was brought on at half-time for Nelson Semedo, with Sergi Roberto dropping back into defence. This was an attacking move and saw Barcelona push forward even more.

Then, in the 64th minute, Messi had another free-kick and this time he slid the ball under the wall and into the net for the opener.

Just two minutes later Messi hit the post again with a shot inside the area.

Luis Suarez and Coutinho missed more chances and Barcelona attacked and attacked and attacked, before Coutinho did finally add the second in the 83rd minute with a smart run through the box and a powerful finish.

There was still time for Messi to add a third in stoppage time to make it a 3-0 victory.

Barcelona completely dominated this game and finished it with 79% possession and 25 shots to Alaves' three shots, with nine on target compared to Alaves' zero. It did take some time to break down their guests' stubborn defence, but eventually their superior quality shone through.