Valverde: Barcelona didn't play their best game LaLiga Santander - Barcelona 3-0 Alaves Pushed by resilient Alaves

Lionel Messi's brace carried Barcelona to a 3-0 opening day victory over Alaves, but Ernesto Valverde made clear that his team weren't able to play their best football.

Philippe Coutinho added the other goal as the Catalan giants began the defence of their domestic title in a positive fashion.

"We haven't been able to play our best game," he explained in his post-match interview.

"The fact that they were situated so deep made our first combinations slow down a little.

"They had very tight defensive lines, a very defensive approach, and it made things difficult for us, but we're in August and hopefully we'll improve."

Coutinho started the match from the bench whilst Ousmane Dembele was handed a starting place in the team, although the Spanish coach was quick to point out that this was mainly a fatigue management based decision.

"The two possibilities were Sergi Roberto or Coutinho and I didn't want to overload the team with players who joined us late," he admitted.

"We started last year with this midfield and it has great strength.

"If we had scored in the first half, then we could have delayed our changes, but we missed a player who could take shots on goal and I thought of Coutinho."

Lionel Messi scored the Blaugrana's 6,000th LaLiga goal with a sublime free-kick that went under the wall, a finish that delighted his coach, even if it didn't overly surprise him.

"He already scored a goal like that against Girona," he intimated.

"Leo can always surprise you, it's not usual.

"The shot he also fired against the post was masterful."