Barcelona's La Liga campaign is off to a fine start despite taking over an hour to get going in Saturday's opener. Welcoming Deportivo Alaves to Camp Nou, Barca had its chances but couldn't find the breakthrough during the first hour. Then, the team shifted into fifth gear and dominated. Lionel Messi scored two goals, Philippe Coutinho added another and Ernesto Valverde's team scored a 3-0 win to earn their first three points of the season on Matchday 1.
Messi scored the game winner with an absolutely perfect free kick under the wall. Take a look at this shot on 64 minutes:
Ladies and gentlemen Leo Messi. pic.twitter.com/cStD48PnQd
— sjx (@Sakkax10) August 18, 2018
Then, with Alaves going for the equalizer, Coutinho made it 2-0 with this signature curler to the far post on 83 minutes:
GOAL! Philippe Coutinho (2-0) #BarçaAlaves pic.twitter.com/5vgn6gdOvu
— Media Cules Goal (@mediaculesgol07) August 18, 2018
And with the game all but put away, Messi put the finishing touches on it with a lovely run, trap and finished inside the box:
Goal 3-0 Messi!!
— Teto Barça (@TetoBarca_) August 18, 2018
What a pass from Suarez! Cleaned up his mess pic.twitter.com/BZTmf42MWa
One game in, and Barca is already flying high. Ousmane Dembele was sharp in the first half, creating plenty of opportunities, and Barca wore Alaves down as the match went on, earning a well-deserved victory to open the campaign.
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