La Liga 2016-17: Barcelona 3-0 Athletic Bilbao, 5 Talking Points

Barcelona ran out comfortable winners against Athletic Bilbao

#3 The rise of stars just when Barcelona needed them

BARCELONA, SPAIN - DECEMBER 21:  Paco Alcacer of FC Barcelona celebrates with his team mates Aleix Vidal and Rafinha Alcantara after scoring his team's fifth goal during the Copa del Rey round of 32 second leg match between FC Barcelona and Hercules at Camp Nou on December 21, 2016 in Barcelona, Spain.  (Photo by David Ramos/Getty Images)
All three men in the picture had a fantastic game tonight

Barcelona certainly went all out in the summer transfer window but none of their players apart from the starting 11 seemed to be even good enough to be considered Barcelona quality for a majority of the first half of the season. None of the summer signings, apart from Samuel Umtiti, showed up for Barcelona when it mattered.

However, between December and January, it seems like Barcelona’s bench seems fired up. Arda Turan scored a couple of hat-tricks in December while Denis Suarez has been brilliant in midfield for the whole of January. Jasper Cillessen has stepped up whenever Barcelona needed him in the Copa del Rey.

Aleix Vidal seems to be a completely new player at the moment while Paco Alcacer has finally scored his first goal which will give him a tonne of confidence going into the business end of the season. If Barcelona can keep up the momentum, they could be looking at a trophy or two.

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