Barcelona 5-0 Eibar: 5 Talking Points as Blaugrana run riot at home | LaLiga 2019/20

Barcelona eased to a comfortable victory over Eibar, with a first-half hat-trick from skipper Lionel Messi putting daylight between them and their visitors, while two late goals added gloss to the result.

The Basque side put the ball in the back of the net early in the first half but the goal was ruled out after Gonzalo Escalente was deemed to be well offside and that was as close as they got to the Barcelona goal, with the Catalans seizing the initiative from then on.

The deadlock was broken in fine style by Messi, as he embarked on a trademark mazy run, skipping past four Eibar defenders before calmly slotting the ball past Marco Dmitrovic. His brace was gotten in the 37th minute when he scored from an acute angle after being played in by Arturo Vidal.

Three minutes later, the six-time Ballon d'Or winner unselfishly squared for Antoine Griezmann when through on goal but the French international fluffed his line and saw his scuffed shot deflected into the path of his captain who made no mistake from six yards out.

The second half had less tempo, with the hosts already guaranteed of the result and despite there being few clear-cut chances, two late goals wrapped up proceedings, with Lionel Messi grabbing his fourth of the evening, while Arthur scored his first since netting the second in the 2-1 victory over Villareal back in September.

The win sends Barcelona to the top of the table momentarily and here, we shall be highlighting five talking points from the fixture.

#5 Barcelona gear up for testing week with convincing result

Quique Setien has two crucnh matches in the next week

While the season might not exactly have gone to plan for Barcelona, the Catalans are still on course to end the season on a high despite their surprise Copa del Rey ouster by Athletic Bilbao.

They came into the weekend one point behind Real Madrid, while they are also scheduled to face Italian side Napoli in the Champions League round-of-16.

With all due respect to Eibar, but they are not exactly on the same level with the aforementioned duo and anything other than a victory in the clash would have been disappointing on the part of Barcelona.

As it happened, no such upset was recorded and the convincing nature of the victory would put the Blaugrana in a confident mood ahead of a blockbuster week that would see them travel to San Paolo to take on Napoli before facing off with Real Madrid in a top-of-the-table clash at the Bernabeu.

#4 Relegation threat looming large for Eibar

SD Eibar SAD v Club Atletico de Madrid - La Liga

Eibar made history as the smallest side to participate in LaLiga after gaining two straight promotions in 2014 and since then, they have shown that they belong among the elite, posting a number of impressive mid-table finishes, with their 9th spot at the end of the 2018 season indicative of their growth.

However, this term, Los Armeros have found the going tough and they have simply been unable to match previous impressive performances and currently find themselves 16th on the table (albeit with a game in hand).

Their latest defeat to Barcelona coupled with Celta Vigo's victory over Leganes and Mallorca's riveting 3-3 draw with Real Betis means that Eibar do not have too much margin for error in what is an intense battle to avoid the drop.

Although nobody would have expected them to pick anything against the Catalans, if Eibar are to avoid the drop, they must up the ante in their upcoming six-pointers against fellow relegation contenders Levante and Mallorca.

#3 Antoine Griezmann fails to take his chances

Griezmann had a game to forget

It would be harsh to suggest that Antoine Griezmann has not stepped up to the plate since completing his mega move to the Camp Nou but despite shining on occasion, the overwhelming consensus is that the French international is yet to truly hit the heights with the Blaugrana.

The injury sustained by Luis Suarez has put more responsibility on his shoulder and the game against Eibar was the perfect opportunity for him to boost his confidence ahead of the home-run of Barcelona's season.

However, he failed to cover himself in glory and made a hash of several good chances that fell his way, with the best of those coming from a cutback by Arturo Vidal which he blasted straight at Dmitrovic, while he also miscontrolled a perfect pass by Messi (which luckily fell back to the Argentine to get his hat-trick).

He was substituted for new boy Martin Braithwaite in the 71st minute and given that Barcelona put five past Eibar, Griezmann would have been disappointed not to have added to his tally.

#2 Martin Braithwaite makes instant impact

FC Barcelona v SD Eibar SAD - La Liga

The last week was filled with reports of Barcelona completing the 'strange transfer' of Martin Braithwaite, with many not knowing of the special transfer rule involving injured LaLiga players until the Catalans triggered his release clause.

The Danish international was signed from Leganes and despite the Blaugrana not breaking any rule, the fact that Leganes are currently embroiled in an intense relegation battle and were powerless to either stop or replace their departing highest goalscorer was seen by many to be another case of the rules favouring the rich and mighty.

In light of this, many took to social media to castigate the Catalans, with the term 'Barcagate' trending across different platforms and Braithwaite did not do himself any favours with his rather shambolic unveiling.

Prior to kickoff, Barcelona fans in the Camp Nou waved white handkerchiefs to express their displeasure and call for the sack of Josep Barthomeu over the disastrous boardroom decisions taken in the last few years, while the club president also had to deny rumours during the week that he hired a media firm to tarnish the image of past and present players including Lionel Messi.

It was in the midst of this brewing storm that Braithwaite made his Barcelona bow and with his side already 3-0 up, there was less pressure for him to make an impact.

That did not, however, deter him and in the 87th minute, he pulled off a bit of individual skill, controlling the ball expertly and dribbling past Alvaro Tejero before finding his captain from an acute angle.

Three minutes later, he was played in through on goal but his finish was well saved by Dmitrovic who could only parry to Arthur to put Barcelona 5-0 up.

Braithwaite might have been the strangest of signings for Barcelona but if his debut cameo showed us anything, it is that he might not be as far-left at the Camp Nou as was first believed.

#1 Lionel Messi ends 'drought' in style

Messi scored four goals

It might have been hard to believe, but before this weekend, the last goal Lionel Messi scored in LaLiga came way back in the 1-0 win over Granada on the 19th of January and despite assisting six times in the four matches since, the Rosario native would have been eager to get in among the goals (especially with his rival Cristiano Ronaldo scoring for fun in Serie A).

His otherwordly ability meant that it was only a matter of time before he got rediscovered his scoring touch and that was exactly what happened against Eibar, with Messi needing just 40 minutes to score his third hat-trick of what has been another breathtaking individual campaign.

That was the second fastest hat-trick of his career (after doing so in 30 minutes against Mallorca in 2011) and his fourth of the evening took him to 18 league goals for the season and suddenly, he has thrust himself right back into the race for the European Golden Shoe.