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Barcelona finished the 2019/20 season of La Liga in style after an emphatic 5-0 hammering of Deportivo Alaves.
Lionel Messi (twice), Ansu Fati, Luis Suarez, and Nelson Semedo were all on target as the Catalans drew the league campaign to a close on a resounding note.
It was one of those days where the side hit all the right notes, and clinically took apart the Babazorros, who had virtually no answer.
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Even though this is a case of too little, too late with Real Madrid already crowned champions last week, the performance was a much needed boost for Setien and co. ahead of the Champions League clash with Napoli.
Here are the hits and flops from the match:
Hit: Lionel Messi (Barcelona)
We'll start with the obvious. No matter how Barcelona fare as a unit, Messi almost always tends to be the stand out performer, and today was no different. With two more goals and an assist at the Mendizorrotza, the captain saw off the league season in style and all but wrapped up a historic seventh Golden Boot too.
He was once again the chief creator, operating from a slightly withdrawn role in the vanguard but constantly feeding his attacking corps with wonderful throughballs and defense-splitting passes. Messi was a thorn in El Glorioso's flesh with his mazy dribbles, completing five of them, and topped another excellent outing with two quality strikes, his 24th and 25th of the season.
Flop: Luis Suarez (Barcelona)
It might seem blasphemous to some, but Luis Suarez increasingly looks done at the top. Apart from a few bright spots here and there, he's once again appeared jaded this season and hopelessly off the pace. Whether its his age or the knee surgery he underwent earlier in the year, its hard to shake off the feeling that the Uruguayan is now more of a liability to Barcelona.
He had another stinker today, and despite getting on the scoresheet - a simple tap-in header from Jordi Alba's lofting cross - its the enduring image of him missing an open chance in the first-half that will linger on.
For most of the time, the striker cut a lonely figure up top and made the least amount of passes of all the outfield players in the team. His days of being in the starting 11 might be numbered.
Hit: Riqui Puig (Barcelona)
After what seemed like forever, the La Masia academy appears to have finally unearthed a precociously talented midfielder in the shape of Riqui Puig. The youngster has played one blinder after another since the restart, but today was arguably his best performance yet.
With excellent distribution of the ball and expert link-up play, Puig was a constant threat. He bagged two assists in the match, for Messi and Semedo, but his throughball for Suarez arguably was the pass of the match. It could've been one of the best assists of the season had the latter been more clinical with that.
Nevertheless, the Spaniard had a top notch game and the fans are absolutely raving about him! Barcelona's next Andres Iniesta? You never know
Flop: Alaves' counter-attacking moves
With safety already assured, Alaves had nothing to play for in the match but that didn't deter the hosts from taking it to the mighty Barcelona. They were content to let the latter have the ball, but then hit them on the break whenever an opportunity showed up. This ploy resulted in a couple of good chances, but the end product was lacking.
Manu Garcia came really close in the ninth minute after a well worked move saw him sneak into the area, but blasted his effort well over the bar. The Catalans didn't leave too much space at the back, but were exposed on the left flank for the likes of Garcia and Lucas Perez to make runs.
The duo combined to conjure another chance towards the end of first-half but, they once again lacked the cutting edge to just kill it off as Barcelona managed to deal with the danger suitably.
Hit: Ansu Fati (Barcelona)
Riqui Puig isn't the only academy star who has been amazing this season, because Ansu Fati has had an astronomic debut season too. It was only fitting for him to get on the scoresheet on the final day, taking his tally to eight in La Liga. To put that into context, Messi had only six in his first full season with Barcelona!
Fati was a menace down that left flank particularly during the opening half, constantly getting the ball forward and driving the defenders away for the likes of Suarez and Vidal to run into the resulting spaces. He also triggered the onslaught today with a nonchalant finish past Roberto Jimenez.
Quick with his feet and skilled on the ball, Ansu Fati is definitely one for the future.
