La Liga 2017/18: Barcelona 3-0 Las Palmas, 5 talking points

After several back and forths over whether the match would be played or not, Barcelona eventually welcomed Las Palmas to an empty Nou Camp. It may have been a strange build-up to the game but the result was nothing more than routine. Another Lionel Messi brace helped the hosts to a comfortable 3-0 win.

The win means Barcelona maintain their 100% record this domestic season, leaving them 5 points clear at the top. For Las Palmas, the defeat leaves them routed in 17th place, just above the relegation zone.

Here are 5 talking points from Barcelona’s 3-0 win over Las Palmas.

#5 Played behind closed doors

In case you didn’t know, Spain is in the midst of political turmoil right now. Catalonia, the state Barcelona resides in, are currently vying for their independence. The region wants to become a separate entity from the rest of Spain and the vote for that independence was held today. However, the Spanish government have deemed the referendum as illegal and tensions have risen in the past month.

Those tensions have now reached boiling point as thousands of Catalonians who came out to vote this morning were sprayed with rubber bullets, leaving 37 injured. As a result of the violence, the match was almost abandoned, but Barcelona decided to play the match after finding out they would be deducted points if they failed to participate.

In response, Barcelona agreed to play the match but only if security was bolstered. The match went ahead in front of an empty Camp Nou arena, it took away the magic of the match even with Lionel Messi playing. The training ground-like atmosphere gave Las Palmas a new-found confidence, allowing them to mentally compete with the Catalonian giants.

#4 A rare Sergio Busquets goal

Busquets

Sergio Busquets is often referred to as the glue that holds Barcelona together. His vision and positional awareness are traits that allow La Masia’s golden attack to flourish as they do. However, today the Spaniard decided he wanted to grab the headlines for once. In the 49th minute, Busquets rose tall at the near post to head home from a Messi corner.

That was the Spaniard’s first goal in 1093 days, in total the 29-year old has only scored 6 goals in his Barcelona career. Sergio Busquets’ goals are a collector’s item that only occur when his teammates need him the most. The header opened the floodgates for Barcelona as they eventually ran out 3-0 winners.

#3 Oussama Tannane shines

Oussama Tannane

It’s not easy to be the main man in a poor side but Oussama Tannane has fully adopted that role at Las Palmas. The Moroccan winger did all he could to inspire an unlikely Palmas win but his teammates just weren’t on the same wavelength. Throughout the match, the Moroccan tormented Jordi Alba, twisting him in and out.

Despite losing 3-0, Tannane completed 2 successful take-ons, made 32 accurate passes, had 58 touches of the ball and created 3 chances for his teammates. He was the one shining light in a dire Las Palmas performance.

#2 Paulinho starts, again

Paulinho has started 3 Liga games this season

For the 3rd time this campaign, the Brazilian midfielder started for Barcelona. While the 29-year old started, Ivan Rakiti?, Andrés Iniesta and Andre Gomes all sat on the bench clearly bemused at the decision. Paulinho has put in stellar performances over the past few weeks, but they weren’t good enough to bench some of the best CMs in the world.

Ernesto Valverde realised his mistake at halftime and took off the 29-year old for Ivan Rakiti?. He also brought on Andrés Iniesta for Alex Vidal. The game changed after these substitutions and Barcelona fully took control of affairs.

Rakiti? and Iniesta provided Barcelona with creativity in the middle, allowing Messi to freely roam as he pleased. In his 45 minute cameo, Paulinho won no aerials, misplaced 2 passes, created 0 chances and lost out on 50% of his tackles.

#1 Luis Suárez lacking confidence

Luis Suarez had another frustrating game

Luis Suárez is undoubtedly experiencing the worst form his career so far. The Uruguayan has only scored 2 goals in 539 minutes of football this season, that’s horrific form for one of the best strikers in world football. The 30-year old a cut a frustrated, overweight and uninspired figure against Las Palmas, only getting involved when Messi forced him to.

His most notable moment of the match was when he was booked for diving in the 50th minute. Suárez was through on goal, rounded the keeper and instead of tapping into an empty net, he opted to jump like a ballerina over the keeper. This summed up his performance; poorly executed, lack of effort and a lack of goalscoring threat.