Match Report: Barcelona 6 – 0 Sporting Gijon

Messi ‘12, Suarez ‘63, ‘74 (pen), ‘77 (pen), ‘88, Neymar ‘85 (pen)

This is now the shape of the La Liga run-in – win the match or lose the title. After Barcelona’s comfortable lead was shockingly cut away by consecutive losses in the Clasico, and against Real Sociedad and Valencia, one point now separates three teams at the top with the head-to-head coming into effect between Atletico and Barcelona, and Real one point behind.

In the midweek round of fixtures, the top three all answered potentially tricky fixtures with victories, and so the stakes rolled over again to this weekend. At 6pm, Real were top of the table, by 20:30 Atletico were, leaving Barcelona to kick-off last and oblige them.

It was largely full Camp Nou, a drizzly evening after the day’s Sant Jordi festivities. Their last two home league games had been losses in this saturday evening slot, but any sense of tension had evaporated somewhat after Wednesday’s demolition away at Deportivo. There was a relaxed belief that this Barcelona side would be back to what they’re used to seeing, which is to say, a very good team indeed.

Yet in the first half, they were and they weren’t. They took a deserved lead through Leo Messi capitalising on some flappage by Ivan Cuellar, a looping header sent back into the net after the keeper failed to clear the ball.

Against Deportivo, Barcelona‘s first goal didn’t change their intensity, battering their opponents from start-to-finish, to provide an answer to April’s poor form — they were in top gear throughout, even if they didn’t need to be. Here, Barcelona went back into neutral, turned on the handbrake and turned the engine off.

The rest of the first half was a lull, which was occasionally punctuated at both ends. There were some moments of genius from Lionel Messi, playing three of the most precise through balls you could ever see, all ultimately failing to be converted by an out-of-form Neymar. At the other end Sporting would break semi-effectively to create half chances, and whilst the on-loan Barcelona youngster Halilovic looked exciting whenever he picked up the ball in the opposition half, anyone from his parent club watching with an eye for him playing for FCB one day would have expected to see a little more eagerness and pressing without the ball. Mascherano and Pique were each called into action to clear off the line on the turn of half-time, which was the closest Sporting would ultimately come.

There was a sense that Barcelona may have been sleepwalking into a catastrophic result, that Sporting were good value for at least a point – Hernandez and Lichnovsky looked composed at the back, and Perez and Halilovic were causing problems. Suarez had a quiet half, Neymar a poor one.

Luis Enrique had been criticised for failing to influence the game in recent losses to Atletico, Valencia and Sociedad and whilst Barcelona were winning tonight, he still needed to inflict change. Tonight, he did. Alves replaced a relatively quiet but more assured Sergi Roberto to return the side to their Gala XI for the second half, but it the rest of the side were playing with a renewed vive and intensity from the very beginning of the second half.

Neymar for the 5th.

Suarez for the 4th.

Suarez for the 3rd.

Eventually this lead to a Suarez goal, earned by a dangerous run from Messi, playing the ball forward, and a rare direct-assist from Andres Iniesta, playing a perfect ball across Sporting’s six yard box — Suarez couldn’t miss, and neither did he miss the two penalties awarded shortly after, the first from a clear handball, the second from Neymar being bundled over in the box. Any composure in the Sporting defence had long been lost, as had any doubts over the result.

A third penalty in 11 minutes had been given – bizarrely, this time for the softest of nudges on a rising Neymar, which he stepped up to less-convincingly finish than his peer.

By this point it had become an exhibition match, and an exhibit for the argument against making goal difference irrelevant in La Liga – there being no real consequences for heads dropping and non-defending, or rewards for scintillatingly putting opponents to the slaughter. Maybe these late kind of bulldozings would be less frequent in La Liga if it wasn’t only pride at stake, but it’s more likely that Suarez and Messi are just that good, demonstrated by former’s exquisite finish for the final goal, and the latter’s pulling of the strings in the final third.

The best goal, and finish, of the match was saved ’til last.

Luis Suarez, four days, two games, eight goals – a swing in the Pichichi race from five behind Ronaldo to three ahead. In the real quiz, the stakes in the league title rollover. Same again next week, then.

Man of the match: Lionel Messi