Pina receives a yellow card after catching Coutinho with a late challenge.
90' +2
Twumasi swings in a cross towards the far post from the left wing where Guidetti is waiting. The substitute does get his head to the ball, but he can only find the side netting with his effort. Even if he had found the back of the net though, he fouls Arthur in the process and the referee awards Barcelona a free-kick.
89'
Messi and Coutinho are passing the ball between them to get around the Alaves defenders as they run into the box. In the end, they overplay it and Laguardia makes an important tackle to dispossess Messi.
87'
Arthur enters the game and replaces Carles Aleñá.
Alena, the scorer of the opening goal, is coming off for Barcelona and he's replaced by Arthur.
85'
Roberto finds himself in a lot of space down the left wing and he tries to square the ball into the middle of the box where Messi is waiting. He almost picks out his team-mate, but Laguardia beats him to it and is able to clear the danger.
83'
Alaves are having to depend on Barcelona giving the ball away at the minute to win back possession. Barca are keeping it high up the field, but sometimes their final pass into the box is poor.
81'
J. Guidetti enters the game and replaces Jony.
Final roll of the dice for Fernandez now as Guidetti is on for Alaves in Jony's place.
80'
Messi drops back into midfield to pick up the ball as he tries to make something happen for his team. He tries to slip it through to Coutinho who is making a run into the box from the left wing, but the pass is intercepted.
76'
Philippe Coutinho gets yellow.
Coutinho is shown a yellow card for a bad foul.
Minute
Description
71'
P. Twumasi enters the game and replaces Rodrigo Ely.
Fernandez has made an attacking change now as Twumasi comes on in place of Ely.
70'
Jordi Alba enters the game and replaces Nélson Semedo.
Second change for Valverde now as he brings on Alba in place of Semedo.
69'
GREAT CHANCE FOR MESSI! He does brilliantly to keep the ball as he dribbles past two Alaves defenders and get into the box. He does stumble slightly but stays on his feet as he takes his shot from a tight angle and Pacheco does really well to push the ball onto the post to deny him.
67'
Brasanac has a chance to break away from his defender and make a run down the left wing, but Roberto recovers quickly to get across and dispossess him, but he catches him with the tackle and gives away a free-kick which comes to nothing.
65'
Pique is high up the field on the right wing and tries to put a cross into the box when he is closed down by Duarte, who fouls him in the process. The Alaves defender isn't happy with the decision though and he is making that clear to the linesman.
63'
Barcelona look very confident now and Alaves once again are struggling to get anywhere near the ball.
61'
L. Messi enters the game and replaces O. Dembélé.
Valverde makes the first change of the match now and Messi comes on to replace Dembele.
60'
Penalty goal scored by L. Suárez for Barcelona!
SUAREZ MAKES IT TWO! He confidently steps up to the penalty spot and strikes his ball to the left of the goal and over the top of Pacheco's outstretched arm to double Barcelona's advantage. 2-0 Barca!
56'
Ximo Navarro gets yellow.
Navarro is shown a yellow card for a very late foul on Suarez.
54'
Carles Aleñá has scored a goal for Barcelona! Assist by Sergi Roberto.
Roberto just got his head up and saw Alena's run ahead of him in the box and he played a short ball into his path to set up the chance for his team-mate.
ALENA PUTS BARCELONA AHEAD! The ball is worked into the box very quickly by Barcelona and Alena just pulls away from his defender to receive it near the penalty spot. He quickly glances up before calmly curling his shot around the keeper and into the bottom corner. 1-0 Barcelona!
53'
Alaves are closing Barcelona down very quickly when they move upfield and are forcing them to play their passes quicker which is causing them to become a bit sloppy.
50'
Alaves are straight on the counter-attack after clearing Barcelona's corner and Jony picks up the ball on the right wing. He tries to put his cross into the box early, but he overhits it and it goes straight out of play.
48'
Barcelona have made a bright start to the second half and are keeping the ball well once again. Alaves have barely had a touch since coming back out onto the field.
46'
D. Brašanac enters the game and replaces D. Rolán.
Rolan doesn't come back out for the second half after suffering a hamstring injury at the end of the first so Brasanac is on in his place.
Barcelona get the game back underway for the second half!
45' +1
HALF-TIME: DEPORTIVO ALAVES 0-0 BARCELONA.
Rolan is down holding his hamstring in the centre circle after pulling up when he was running onto the ball. He's gesturing to the bench that he needs to come off, but with half-time just seconds away, it's likely that he'll be replaced after the break.
44'
Barcelona are trying to play through the middle to get into the box, but Alaves are blocking them off at every opportunity. Suarez plays the ball to Coutinho in the middle and tries to curl his run out wide so he can get the ball back, but the pass back to him by the Brazilian is blocked by Laguardia.
42'
Alaves look a lot more confident now that they've had a few chances on goal and they are causing Barcelona quite a few problems now as they are closing down the ball much quicker than before.
38'
Barcelona are back on the attack again after that short spell of pressure from Alaves. Vidal plays a sloppy pass out wide though and gives away a foul when he tries to win the ball back.
36'
The free-kick is whipped into the middle of the box and Pina gets his head onto the ball. He flicks it into the crowd of players in the six-yard box, but Ter Stegen is closest to it and he holds onto the shot.
33'
Jony gets yellow.
Jony is shown the first yellow card of the game for dissent.
32'
Alaves get a rare chance to attack Barcelona's goal and Jony tries to nod the ball into the path of Baston who is making a run into the box behind him. There's just a bit too much on the pass though and Ter Stegen is off his line quickly to collect it.
28'
Barcelona are happy to just keep possession around the halfway line for now while they wait for some space to open up in midfield as Alaves are sticking to their shape very well.
26'
Alaves have barely had a touch of the ball in the past few minutes and Fernandez is up off his seat and urging his team to close down Barcelona quicker so they can get out of their own half.
24'
Roberto found himself in a lot of space as he came inside from the left wing. When he received the ball though, Ely was coming across to close him down and he had to get his cross away quickly. He was aiming for the far post where Suarez was waiting, but he could only send it straight out of play.
23'
GOOD CHANCE FOR COUTINHO! The Brazilian picks up the ball on the edge of the box and decides to have a go from long range. His shot is curling on target, but in the end, it's a comfortable save for Pacheco.
21'
Suarez has caused the Alaves defenders a lot of problems so far and he gets in behind them once again when he is picked out by Busquets. He takes too long to decide whether to cross or shoot though and Laguardia times his tackle well to dispossess him.
19'
Vidal got his head up and saw Semedo making the run ahead of him on the right wing. His throughball is perfectly weighted, but the defender's cross into the box is poor and goes straight out of play.
17'
A lot of the Alaves players have dropped back into their box to try and block the Barcelona players from getting in behind them, meaning the away side are having to play the ball out wide to try and find a way through. Roberto comes inside from the left to put in a cross, but this time, he can't beat the first man.
15'
Alaves have a free-kick in a good position on the right wing and Jony is the one standing over it. He whips his cross into the crowd of players waiting in the six-yard box, but Ter Stegen comes off his line to collect it before anyone else can get on the end of it.
13'
Barcelona quickly work the ball upfield again and Semedo crosses it into the box from the right wing. Coutinho is running onto it, but he leaves it for Suarez who is making the run behind him. Laguardia recovers really well to intercept the pass and get it clear for Alaves.
11'
Alaves have a free-kick after Semedo fouled Jony on the left wing. Pacheco plays it upfield, but the passing by the home side is sloppy and they quickly gift possession back to Barcelona once again.
9'
Barcelona have made a very bright start to the game and Alaves are struggling to get on the ball long enough to get out of their own half at the minute.
4'
Alaves have every player sitting back in their own half at the minute as they try to close down the space in front of Barcelona. A sloppy pass from Busquets is played straight to Jony though who turns with the ball, but Vidal is across quickly to win it back.
2'
Barcelona are keeping the ball well in the opening minutes of the game and are slowly making their way upfield as they start to build up their first attack of the game.
1'
Baston gets the game underway for Alaves!
Hello and welcome to live coverage of the LaLiga meeting between Deportivo Alaves and Barcelona at the Mendizorroza!
If Barcelona beat Alaves today and Atletico Madrid lose when they face Valencia tomorrow night, then they will win the LaLiga title. Barca come into the game on a good run of form as well as they are unbeaten in their last 10 matches in all competitions (W8 D2). Alaves, on the other hand, have struggled of late and are winless in their previous five LaLiga games (D2 L3), which is the worst run they've been on under Abelardo Fernandez.
DEPORTIVO ALAVES STARTING XI (5-4-1): Fernando Pacheco; Carlos Vigaray, Ximo Navarro, Victor Laguardia, Rodrigo Ely, Ruben Duarte; Diego Rolan, Mubarak Wakaso, Tomas Pina, Jony; Borja Baston.
DEPORTIVO ALAVES SUBS: Antonio Sivera, John Guidetti, Manu Garcia, Patrick Twumasi, Martin Aguirregabiria, Adrian Marin, Darko Brasanac.
BARCELONA SUBS: Jasper Cillessen, Arthur, Clement Lenglet, Jordi Alba, Lionel Messi, Thomas Vermaelen, Malcom.
BARCELONA STARTING XI (4-3-3): Marc-Andre ter Stegen; Nelson Semedo, Gerard Pique, Samuel Umtiti, Sergi Roberto; Arturo Vidal, Sergio Busquets, Carles Alena; Ousmane Dembele, Luis Suarez, Philippe Coutinho.
The teams are out on the pitch now, with kick-off just moments away.
Valverde will be happy with how his team have performed in the game so far, but if they want to take the lead in this game, they need to be more clinical in front of goal. They created a lot of chances in the first half without troubling the goalkeeper too often, but they do look the more likely of the two sides to get a goal. Alaves got into some dangerous positions towards the end of the half, but their passing let them down quite often and stopped them from putting more pressure on the Barcelona defenders. If they can get Jony into the game more often, then they have a chance to cause the away side more problems as he looked to be their most dangerous player.
That's all for today, goodbye!
The win for Barcelona means that they will be crowned LaLiga champions if Atletico Madrid lose to Valencia on Wednesday. Valverde will be happy with how his side performed today and will be hoping they can carry on their good form as they head into an important run of fixtures. Alaves remain in eighth after the defeat and will be hoping that they can end their six-match winless when they face Athletic Bilbao, who sit above them in the table on goal difference, in their next match.
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