Alavés vs Barcelona live blog, full-time: Barça finish La Liga season with masterful team performance

FULL-TIME, Alavés 0-5 Barcelona: What a performance, dominant from start to finish with zero defensive problems. The Champions League returns in three weeks, and this win gives all sorts of hope.

92min: Masterful through ball from Messi to Braithwaite, but the Dane can’t control the pass and Roberto stops him from scoring.

90min: Another chance as Braithwaite receives a long ball and almost beats the keeper with a smart left-footed shot but it goes wide.

89min: Alavés captain Martín Aguirregabiria leaves with a knee injury and the hosts will finish the game with 10 men having already made all five substitutions.

85min: Alavés have their first chance of the entire second half when Joselu fires a rocket from the left side of the box, but his shot goes well wide.

77min: After the water break Martin Braithwaite comes on for Ansu Fati as Barça make their third change.

GOAL!!! Alavés 0-5 Barcelona (Messi 75’): IT’S FIVE!!! Another beautiful team goal thanks to genius movement and passing by De Jong, a second excellent assist for Alba and a second goal for Messi. What a performance!

70min: This definitely feels like the last game of the season now with Barça’s win already wrapped up and the heat getting worse. The Blaugrana are just passing the ball and Alavés want this to be over.

65min: After a busy start to the second half the pace has slowed down a bit with more substitutions and a whole lot of heat.

58min: Second substitution for Barça as Frenkie De Jong replaces Sergio Busquets.

GOAL!!! Alavés 0-4 Barcelona (Semedo 57’): IT’S FOUR FOR BARÇA!!! It’s another assist for Riqui Puig who finds Semedo in great position and the full-back fires a rocket into the top corner!

52min: Nice run by Messi who then makes a one-two with Ansu Fati but can’t finish the move. He was offside anyway.

51min: Semedo, Araujo, Vidal and Alba is Barça’s new back four after the substitution with Sergi Roberto moving into midfield. Interesting configuration.

50min: After Vidal played in central defense for a few minutes without Lenglet, Nélson Semedo has come on for the Frenchman.

46min: Busy start to the second half with three substitutions and Pere Pons missing a huge chance for Alavés, and Lenglet leaving the pitch with an injury for Barça who are currently playing with 10 men.

SECOND HALF KICKOFF! Alavés 0-3 Barcelona: Come on, boys! Let’s keep up the pace from the first half and score some more goals!

HALFTIME, Alavés 0-3 Barcelona: The best, most entertaining 45 minutes of Barcelona’s season with spectacular passing, pressing and movement and loads of chances and goals. A truly dominant first half for the visitors.

GOAL!!! Alavés 0-3 Barcelona (Suárez 44’): IT’S THREE!!! Lionel Messi plays a beautiful pass to the overlapping Jordi Alba who gives Luis Suárez an easy header and the Uruguayan doesn’t waste it this time. Fantastic goal.

43min: Big counter attack by Alavés but a fantastic recovery run by Ronald Araujo and a great tackle by Busquets avoid any trouble for the Barça defense.

41min: WHAT A SAVE! Another lovely attack from Barça ends with a glorious cross by Messi to find Vidal, and the Chilean’s header is brilliantly stopped by Roberto.

38min: Alavés try to attack after almost half an hour with a long shot by Joselu that deflects away for a corner. Barça deal with the corner comfortably.

GOAL!!! Alavés 0-2 Barcelona (Messi 34’): IT’S TWO FOR BARÇA!!! Fantastic switch of play from Sergi Roberto to find Riqui Puig on the left, and the midfielder finds Messi who sits the keeper down and taps the ball in. Beautiful second goal!

30min: Water break, and we have so far watched an excellent Barcelona performance, with quick attacking play, some great passing and at least five goal-scoring chances. Good football from Quique’s men to add some fun to a meaningless game.

27min: UNBELIEVABLE pass from Riqui Puig, Suárez finds himself alone in front of goal with time to pick his shot but can’t beat Roberto once again. Two golden chances for the Uruguayan, two bad decisions in front of goal.

GOAL!!! Alavés 0-1 Barcelona (Ansu Fati 24’): BARÇA TAKE THE LEAD!!! Messi receives a ball in space on the right wing and tries to play a cross that is deflected, but Ansu Fati is quicker than the Alavés defense and scores a really nice volley.

20min: Messi wins a free-kick in his favorite spot but sends it over the bar.

17min: Big chance for Suárez after a gorgeous pass from Messi but the Uruguayan’s shot goes straight at the keeper.

16min: Messi hits the post! Beautiful shot from the captain but the ball hits the woodwork.

12min: Nice attacking move ends with a pretty pass from Riqui Puig and a powerful shot from Vidal that hits the crossbar and goes out for a goal-kick.

10min: CLOSE! Luis Suárez finds Ansu Fati on the left wing and the youngster curls a beauty from outside the box, but his shot goes just wide.

9min: First opportunity for Alavés as Manu García fires a shot over the bar.

8min: Fantastic pass by Sergi Roberto to find Messi all alone inside the box but the captain can’t control the ball and it’s an easy save for Alavés goalkeeper Roberto.

3min: Riqui Puig hits the crossbar with a beautiful shot from distance! Barça have dominated possession to start the game and almost scored early on.

KICKOFF! Alavés 0-0 Barcelona: Come on, boys! Let’s finish the season in style!

BARCELONA

Starting XI: Neto; Roberto, Araujo, Lenglet, Alba; Vidal, Busquets, Puig; Messi, Suárez, Ansu Fati (4-3-3)

Bench: Ter Stegen (GK), Arnau (GK), Semedo, De Jong, Braithwaite

ALAVÉS

Starting XI: Roberto; Martín, Laguardia, Magallán, Marín; Edgar, Camarasa, García, Burke; Joselu, Pérez (4-4-2)

Bench: Aritz (GK), Rioja, Navarro, Fejsa, Vidal, Pons, Tachi, Sainz, Paulino, Abdallahi, José Luis

WELCOME TO THE ESTADIO DE MENDIZORROTZA!!! The cozy home of Deportivo Alavés is the site of the final match of the La Liga season for the host and runners-up Barcelona, who come into this one without a chance to win the title and without danger of finishing in second place and plenty of injuries and suspensions to the squad. But this could still be a fun game to watch, and you’re welcome to join us to follow and comment all the action. LET’S LIVE BLOG!!!

(Note: the comments will be open only when the team news come out, because our commenter people love commenting and sometimes there are too many comments in the comments section)

Competition/Round: 2019-20 La Liga, Matchday 38

Date/Time: Sunday, July 19, 2020, 5pm CET (Barcelona), 4pm BST/WAT (UK & Nigeria), 11am ET, 8am PT (USA), 8.30pm IST (India)

Venue: Estadio Mendizorrotza, Vitoria-Gasteiz, Basque Country, Spain

Referee: Juan Martínez Munuera

How to watch on TV: beIN SPORTS (USA & Canada), LaLigaTV (UK), SuperSport 7 (Nigeria), Movistar LaLiga (Spain), Not Available (India), others

How to stream: fuboTV (USA), beIN SPORTS CONNECT (USA & Canada), Premier Player (UK), Facebook Live (India), Movistar+ (Spain), others

We don’t have a lot of rules here, but there are a few things to keep in mind when joining our matchday threads:

Even if the referee sucks or we lose the game, no swearing. It’s just unnecessary. Also, don’t discuss illegal streaming links. Those who do it will be warned, and those who post links will be instantly banned. Finally, be nice to each other. This is a Barcelona community and we don’t need to offend one another.

Have fun with the game! Forever and ever, no matter the competition, VISCA EL BARÇA!