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Barcelona grabbed a crucial three points in the 2020-21 La Liga, defeating Huesca 4-1 at the Camp Nou to go second.
Lionel Messi's brace ensured Barcelona are now only four points behind leaders Atletico Madrid. Huesca, meanwhile, remain rooted to the bottom of the table and are staring at a relegation dogfight.
Barcelona dominated proceedings right from the off, and Lionel Messi opened the scoring with a world-class goal in the 13th minute. The Argentinian wizard produced a delicious turn before skipping away from Dimitris Siovas and curling a beauty into the top corner.
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Pablo Maffeo went close in a rare attack for Huesca, but Jordi Alba struck the crossbar at the other end as the Blaugrana continued to dominate. Antoine Griezmann made it 2-0 in the 35th minute with an absolute thunderbolt of a shot from range to end his nine-game goal drought.
There was controversy to end the half, though, as Marc Andre Ter Stegen was ruled to have tripped Rafa Mir at the end of a Huesca counter-attack. The forward made no mistake from the resulting penalty, halving the arrears for his side before the break.
However, Barcelona soon restored their two-goal advantage a few minutes into the second half when Oscar Mingueza scored his first goal for the club by heading home after a delicious cross from Messi. Moments later, Huesca missed a gilt-edged chance as Rafa Mir ballooned the ball with his shoulder over the bar from a yard out.
Lionel Messi made sure of the points late on with yet another stunner from range in the 90th minute, curling the ball into the bottom corner, as the game ended 4-1 in Barcelona's favour.
On that note, let's have a look at five major talking points in the game:
#1 Barcelona's Lionel Messi shines on a historic night
The attention was always going to be on Lionel Messi, as he was making a record-equalling 767th Barcelona appearance. Equalling Xavi's record of 767 appearances in the Blaugrana shirt guaranteed an emotional night for the Argentinian, and he looked determined to make sure it was a joyful night.
Despite Huesca packing their defence, Messi found space to work his magic, routinely shrugging off the attentions of his marker and working some pretty triangles with Ousmane Dembele, Griezmann, Pedri and co. The first goal was all Messi, though and was definitely one of the better ones he has scored.
That strike made Messi the first player to score over 20 goals in 13 consecutive La Liga seas.
A peach of an assist for Oscar Mingueza followed as Messi continued to remind everyone how big a loss he would be if he leaves Barcelona come the end of the season.
The second Joan Laporta era has begun with a win, but if they are to repeat the success of the first one, re-signing their Argentine talisman should be their number one priority.
#2 Huesca remain with a shout of surviving
It's hard to pinpoint exactly what Pacheta did wrong on the night, despite the scoreline.
Huesca packed their defence, looked fairly organised and possessed plenty of threat on the counter against Barcelona. Yet, two absolute world-class goals from Barcelona's jewels, as well as a glorious assist was enough to keep Huesca at the bottom of the La Liga table.
One can scarcely believe the reigning Segunda champions are in the situation they are in, as they caused Barcelona quite a few moments of consternation. Ever since Pacheta has taken over, Huesca have looked far more harmonious in attack, and they probably ought to have scored more than once on the night.
It ultimately wasn't enough, but Huesca can take huge encouragement from their performance at the Camp Nou. The side from Aragon have a few relegation six-pointers against Alaves and Elche coming up, where they would hope to produce a miracle.
#3 Ronald Koeman's 3-4-3 works wonders for Barcelona yet again
We are midway through March, and it seems Barcelona head coach Ronaldo Koeman has finally settled on a system that brings out the best of his stars. Frenkie de Jong once again played at the heart of a three-man defence, flanked by Clement Lenglet and Oscar Mingueza.
The Dutchman's passing was crucial in bypassing Huesca's first line of press, and Pedri and Busquets recycled the ball brilliantly to Barcelona's front three. The trio of Griezmann, Messi and Dembele was absolutely brilliant, with moments of exquisite interplay bamboozling the Huesca defence.
The energy of Sergino Dest and Jordi Alba down either wing caused quite a few nervous moments for the Huesca defence, although the visitors did take advantage of the space left behind to counter attack.
With the El Clasico on the horizon, Koeman may have stumbled upon a formation that could serve as a blueprint for the future, just at the right time.
#4 Barcelona young guns offer hope
Prior to the season, Oscar Mingueza was staring at a long season cementing his place at the heart of Barcelona B's defence. Yet, ever since November, the centre-back has lived every youngster's dream, stepping up to the first team and performing with aplomb.
There have been a few bad moments, as is wont for a player experiencing his first-ever top-flight season, but Mingueza has answered his manager's call in the absence of Gerard Pique. He deserved his goal on the night, and much like his fellow Barcelona youngsters, Minguez rarely put a foot wrong.
Ronald Koeman's bravado in being reliant on his youngsters has been paying rich dividends all season. Right from Ansu Fati, Ilaix Moriba and Pedri to the likes of Mingueza and Ronald Araujo, the Blaugrana are set to reap the fruits of their early-season patience at the right time.
#5 La Liga title race heats up
Atletico Madrid's goalless draw against Getafe placed the onus on Barcelona to claw back the gap, and the Catalans responded with aplomb.
The Rojiblancos continue to stutter, and Real Madrid continue to rely on Karim Benzema's magic to bail them out. However, Barcelona have yet to lose a game in the league since their 1-2 defeat to Cadiz in early December.
Koeman's side are undefeated in 16 games, dropping only six points in the process. As the La Liga's most in-form team at the moment,, it's hardly unreasonable to fathom Barcelona cannot claw back a four point gap.
A Copa del Rey final awaits the Blaugrana next as well as a titanic El Clasico that could well decide the fate of the La Liga title this season. For all the criticism that Ronald Koeman bore at the start of the season, he could very well end up with the perfect riposte - silverware.
