Barcelona vs Almeria. Spanish La Liga.
Camp NouAttendance73,837.
Thursday 9 April 2015 08:28, UK
Barcelona beat Almeria 4-0 to secure their sixth successive league victory and further strengthen their position at the top of the Primera Division standings.
A sublime goal from Lionel Messi put Barca ahead after 33 minutes and a brace from Luis Suarez and Marc Bartra's strike ensured victory was secured in emphatic fashion.
Almeria offered little in attack at the Nou Camp and their third successive league defeat sees them remain in La Liga's bottom three.
The match had an exhibition feel to it early on as Barcelona attacked at will and barely afforded Almeria a sniff of possession.
The first clear-cut chance of the match came in the 13th minute when Messi found some space in the Almeria penalty area but his angled header was tame and visiting goalkeeper Julian gathered comfortably.
Almeria very nearly took the lead moments later when Wellington Silva's low shot was deflected wide by Pedro after Thievy Bifouma had shown nimble footwork in the area to set his team-mate up.
Barca stepped up a gear and another moment of brilliance from Messi saw them take the lead shortly after the half-hour mark.
The talismanic Argentinian skipped past two Almeria defenders while seemingly isolated on the right flank before curling into the far corner from a tight angle.
Barcelona spurned several chances to add to their lead before half-time but were 2-0 up 10 minutes after the restart when Suarez, in an almost identical fashion to Messi's opener, cut into the penalty area and unleashed a ferocious shot that Julian could only help into the top corner.
Centre-back Bartra made it 3-0 with 15 minutes remaining when he headed a probing Xavi corner into the back of the net to notch his first league goal of the season.
Messi thought he had scored his second and Barca's fourth minutes later but his close-range effort was ruled out for offside.
Almeria finally breached Claudio Bravo's goal in stoppage time but Thomas Partey's strike was ruled out for an earlier foul, and their misery was compiled moments later when Suarez poked home at the far post to cap off a blistering counter-attack just before the final whistle.
