From: Marca English
Barcelona returned to their winning ways in la Liga with a 3-1 victory over Granada on Saturday afternoon at Los Cármenes in Granada.
Ivan Rakitic scored in the first half and Luis Suárez and Lionel Messi scored in the second to hand Barcelona all three points after having suffered defeat last week at home against Málaga.
Manager Luis Enrique made a couple changes from the team that triumphed midweek in Manchester, with Marc Bartra and Jeremy Mathieu slotting into the center-back spots, while Javier Mascherano pushed forward into midfield for the rested Sergio Busquets and Gerard Piqué missed due to suspension. Also coming back into the fold was Xavi, who was inserted for Andres Iniesta. Otherwise, it was the usual starters for Barcelona, with Claudio Bravo in goal, Dani Alves and Jordi Alba at fullback, Rakitic in the midfield and the customary attacking threesome of Suárez, Messi and Neymar.
Barcelona looked uncomfortable in the early going, which could have been the effects of their taxing match on Tuesday against the English champions. Luis Enrique’s men were unable to carve out much of a chance through the first 25 minutes with only a 23rd minute Xavi shot posing a threat to Granada goalkeeper Oier. Meanwhile, at the other end of the pitch, Granada were keeping the visitors on their toes, with several perilous counterattacks.
Yet just when it looked like it could be a long afternoon for Barcelona, they struck to open the scoring in the 25th minute. Alba played a looping ball into Suarez, who beat the offside trap, and the Uruguayan fired a cross from the left that bounced off Granada defender Cala and set up an easy shot for Rakitic, who fired into the back of the net to make it 1-0.
The lead was almost doubled on a nifty give-and-go between Messi and Rakitic in the 35th minute that ended with a Messi shot coming close, but then two minutes later Granada had a shout for a penalty in the when it looked as if Bartra had taken Lass down in the area, but no whistle sounded, much to the dismay of the home fans.
Granada continued to hunt for an equalizer, and they nearly got it in the 42nd minute when a Javi Márquez shot forced a diving save from Bravo. There was one last look at a goal in the first half, with Messi having a shot blocked from point-blank range by Oier just second before the break.
The second half started with plenty of fireworks as Bravo was once again called to make a big save, this time intervening to stop Lass from finding Jhon Córdoba in the 47th minute. But then one minute later it was suddenly 2-0 to Barcelona with Suárez finding the net for the second match in a row, as the former Liverpool man poked a shot past Oier after receiving a ball from Rakitic.
But Barcelona could not rest on the 2-0 lead, as Granada fired themselves back into the match in the 52nd minute thanks to Fran Rico’s penalty conversion, following Bartra’s foul on Lass in the area that. Just like that it was 2-1 and it had Los Cármenes roaring.
The Catalonians withstood the charge from the home team and restored their two-goal advantage in the 70th minute with a goal from Messi. It all started with a Rakitic ball that was played into an onside Suárez, and the Uruguayan rounded Oier, before cutting back across a defender and finding Messi who easily swept the ball into the open net to make it 3-1. Replays showed that Messi appeared to be offside, but the flag stayed down and the goal stood.
Messi several chances late on to make it 4-1, but he missed the target in the 81st minute off an overhead kick across from Neymar, then was denied by Oier in the 87th minute and then was unable to convert on a third just a minute later.
That would wrap things up for Luis Enrique’s team, who now head to El Madrigal to play Villarreall in their Copa del Rey second leg semifinal on Wednesday.
