There will be a minimum of three minutes of added time played here.
88'
Paulinho enters the game and replaces Andrés Iniesta.
Paulinho comes onto the pitch, replacing Iniesta who passes the captains armband onto Messi for the final few minutes of the game.
Substitution Andrés Iniesta Luján José Paulo Bezzera Maciel Júnior
86'
It looks like Paulinho is about to come on for his debut after joining Barcelona earlier this week. The former Tottenham man will be hoping to make a good first impression.
83'
Another Messi free-kick in a good shooting position, however this time the Argentinian opts for a cross into the box, looking towards Pique but the ball is well cleared by the Alaves defence.
81'
The pace of the game has dropped dramatically now, with Barca feeling that they have wrapped up all three points now and are just in cruise control. Perhaps get another goal on the scoresheet, to increase their goal difference.
78'
C. Santos enters the game and replaces Rubén Sobrino.
A double substitution by Alaves. Enzo Zidane, the son of legendary midfielder Zinedine Zidane, has replaced Wakaso. Sobrino is the other player coming off and he is replaced by Christian Santos.
Substitution Rubén Sobrino Pozuelo Christian Robert Santos Kwasniewski
77'
E. Zidane enters the game and replaces M. Wakaso.
Not long to go here, Barcelona hold a comfortable 2-0 lead over Alaves and look like they will be able to see this game out.
Substitution Mubarak Wakaso Enzo Alan Zidane Fernández
74'
OFF THE CROSSBAR! Messi goes incredibly close to bagging his hat-trick! Messi attempts a lofted shot from the edge of the box, it appears to have Pacheco beaten, but luckily for Alaves the shot cannons off the bar.
72'
Another change by Barca as Deulofeu is withdrawn with Denis Suarez taking his place.
Minute
Description
71'
Denis Suárez enters the game and replaces Deulofeu.
Before this game Barcelona had won their last eight games in La Liga, it looks like they are on course to make that nine in a row now, their longest winning run in the competition.
Romero has a decent effort from a free-kick comfortably saved by ter Stegen. The Barca keeper has barely had anything to do today, much unlike his fellow keeper at the other end.
68'
Both of Barca's goals have been due to a mistake or luck, but against sides such as Barcelona you cannot afford to give them an inch as they will punish you. Just as Messi has tonight.
67'
Burgui enters the game and replaces Ibai Gómez.
Alaves make their first substitution of the game, with Ibai Gomez the man coming off and he is replaced by Burgui.
Substitution Ibai Gómez Pérez Jorge Franco Alviz
66'
L. Messi has scored a goal for Barcelona! Assist by Paco Alcácer.
GOOOAAALLL! BARCA DOUBLE THEIR LEAD! Poor defending by Alexis to attempt to clear the ball, after blocking a cross by Alcacer. The Alaves man tries to be clever and skillfully play his way out of trouble, however it doesn't work and Alcacer nicks the ball off him, playing in Messi, who fires the ball into the back of the net from just 12 yards out. Sloppy defending and there was no way Messi was going to miss that!
Assist Francisco Alcácer García
Goal Lionel Andrés Messi Cuccittini
64'
CHANCE BARCA! Alba has a great opportunity to double Barcelona's lead! The cross came into the box and Alba sneaked into the box from the left wing, he meets the ball at the far post, but fires his effort high over the crossbar! He perhaps should have done better there. The left-back is now down with an ankle injury after colliding with a Barca defender just seconds after his volley.
63'
STAT: Lionel Messi has now scored 350 goals in La Liga, only the second player from the top five European leagues to reach 350 goals for the same club, after Gerd Muller with Bayern Munich (365 in total).
60'
The home supporters are still maintaining an excellent atmosphere here inside the Estadio de Mendizorroza, despite their side now behind. There is still plenty of time to play for Alaves to get back into this game.
57'
Paco Alcácer enters the game and replaces Aleix Vidal.
Just minutes after taking the lead, Barca have made the first substitution of the game, Vidal is the man who is coming off and he is replaced by Alcacer.
Substitution Aleix Vidal Parreu Francisco Alcácer García
55'
L. Messi has scored a goal for Barcelona! Assist by Jordi Alba.
GOOOAAALLL! BARCA TAKE THE LEAD! Messi with the goal! Alba does brilliantly down the left flank, he then gets to the byline and pulls the ball back into the penalty area. Messi does very well to get in front of his marker and nip the ball off his toes, he then turns and fires a shot at goal which takes a fierce deflection off Ely, causing it to loop over Pacheco and into the back of the net.
Assist Jordi Alba Ramos
Goal Lionel Andrés Messi Cuccittini
54'
STAT: Pacheco & Iraizoz are the only keepers to have saved at least one penalty to Cristiano Ronaldo & Lionel Messi in La Liga. An impressive feat to accomplish!
52'
Messi is lining up a free-kick from around 30 yards out, it is in a decent shooting position... The set piece doesn't have enough pace on it and Pacheco makes a comfortable save to deny him.
50'
Every single Alaves player is behind the ball at the moment, which is making it very difficult for Barca to break down due to mass numbers. Alaves look strong mentally this afternoon and as time goes on without a Barca goal, the visitors will begin to become more and more frustrated. Perhaps then a good opportunity for Alaves to counter.
48'
Messi is given far too much time and space on the edge of the box and he fires a powerful volley at goal, however this time it doesn't trouble Pacheco as it flies harmlessly wide of the goal. Barca back in control, but more wary of an Alaves counter-attack.
47'
GREAT CHANCE ALAVES! The hosts go incredibly close to opening the scoring! It was a brilliant lofted ball over the top of the Barca defence by Wakaso. Gomez chests it down magnificently, he then whips an inviting low cross into the box, Garcia sprinted forward and was just a matter of inches away from getting on the end of that cross. If the Alaves skipper had got a touch on that, it would have been a certain goal. An early warning for Barca.
46'
The second half is underway!
45' +2
That's the half-time whistle!
45'
Piqué gets yellow.
There will be a minimum of two minutes of added time played here.
Yellow card Gerard Piqué Bernabéu
44'
Pique is shown a yellow card for a blatant handball deep in the Alaves penalty area. The centre-back was desperately trying to get on the end of a long ball into the box, and tried to half head, half handball the ball across goal. The referee was not pleased with the Barca players attempt to con the officials.
43'
Not long to go until the half-time whistle here, and it has been an action packed half of football so far! Can Barca break the deadlock before the break?
41'
Sergi Roberto gets yellow.
Yellow card Sergi Roberto Carnicer
40'
Plenty of yellow cards have been shown already here. Barca's Roberto is the latest player to go into the referee's notebook after a poor sliding challenge on Garcia.
39'
Penalty saved by Fernando Pacheco!
Penalty Save Fernando Pacheco Flores
Penalty Miss Lionel Andrés Messi Cuccittini
38'
Rodrigo Ely gets yellow.
PENALTY MISSED! Messi sees his penalty kick superbly saved by Pacheco! The Argentinian superstar is thwarted, his effort looked to be sneaking into the right-hand corner. However, Pacheco read it well and made a brilliant diving save. So far the Alaves keeper has been phenomenal.
Yellow card Rodrigo Ely
37'
BARCA PENALTY! Ely was grabbling with Pique in the penalty area, with his hands all over the centre-back as he attempted an overhead kick. The referee was in the perfect position to see that and he immediately awards a spot-kick and shows Ely a yellow card as well. The Alaves are appealing the decision but it will make no difference. Can Barca break the deadlock from the penalty spot?
36'
M. Wakaso gets yellow.
The second yellow card of the game is shown to Wakaso for his wild lunges in on Roberto down the right flank, which appears to have left the defender in a lot of pain.
33'
Ibai Gomez fires a free-kick straight into the wall, with small appeals for handball, but nothing is give. Pina then has a hopeful follow-up shot blocked by Umtiti and the ball spirals out for a corner. The resulting set piece is whipped into the box, and ter Stegen gets caught in no man's land, but Pique is there to head the ball clear. Much better by Alaves, the game has started to open up.
32'
S. Umtiti gets yellow.
Just seconds later the Alaves striker is involved in a coming together with Umtiti on the edge of the box, which results in a free-kick to the hosts and a yellow card for the Frenchman who is not happy with the call at all. This free-kick is in a very good shooting position, can they take advantage?
Umtiti is shown the yellow card for the coming together on the edge of the box.
31'
CHANCE ALAVES! Sobrino uses his pace to get away from Gerard Pique, he races through on goal and only has ter Stegen to beat, but he fires his shot straight at the Barca keeper! Ter Stegen still has to make a superb save to deny the Alaves striker. A great opportunity after half an hour of being put under a lot of pressure at the other end.
28'
Messi is cutting a frustrated figure up front at the moment, his side should have broken the deadlock by now. Along, with a couple of refereeing decisions going against him, following a brilliant dribbling run down the right wing.
Decent chance for AlavesSobrino looked to be racing clean through on goal following a chipped ball over the top. However, Umtiti showed great pace to recover and get back to nick the ball away from the striker, along with playing it calmly back to ter-Stegen in goal. The Barca keeper then calmly plays the ball out from the back and Barca mount another attack.
26'
STAT: In the corresponding fixture in 2016-17, Barca won 6-0 and that was the biggest league loss ever for Alaves at Mendizorrotza. However, the Copa del Rey final in May beaten the two sides was a much closer affair.
24'
Barca have had 80% of possession here already! However they are still yet really trouble Pacheco, and as the game goes on longer without a Barca goal, it will make them vulnerable to a rapid counter-attack by their opponents. We saw earlier on that the hosts have that in their locker.
22'
The atmosphere is excellent here, the home supporters are making their voices heard, getting behind their side as they begin to sit deeper and deeper. An excellent arena to play in.
20'
Every single outfield player in a Barcelona shirt is in the Alaves half at the moment, as the Spanish giants domiante this game. Surely the opening goal of this game is not too far away! Alaves have not touched the ball for more than a couple of seconds for a long time now.
17'
Aleix Vidal is playing very well for Barca here today, the winger is playing in a more naturally position of right winger, and seems to be constantly switching positions with Messi and Deulofeu which is causing the Alaves defence numerous problems in picking them up. Vidal may be one of the players that may drop out of the starting line-up, once Dembele completes his move from Dortmund.
14'
It is still all Barca here at the Estadio de Mendizorroza, however Alaves are defending well at the moment, getting plenty of players behind the ball which is frustrating Barca. The visitors are having quite a few shots from long-range, but none of which are overly testing the Alaves keeper.
12'
GREAT CHANCE! Alaves almost score on the counter-attack! Pedraza makes a brilliant burst down the left wing and fires in a cross, come shot that is somehow turned wide by Sobrino who is sprinting into the box on the stretch. He should've scored! Fortunately for the former Manchester City man, the flag was raised and he was offside anyway. Let-off for Barcelona!
10'
STAT: Alaves have only won one of their last seven games against Barcelona in La Liga (losing four and drawing two), a 2-1 at Camp Nou last season.
8'
Lionel Messi and Andreas Iniesta are linking up superbly in the middle of the pitch, a quick one-two between the two players ends with Messi firing a low shot at Pacheco, from the edge of the box, who makes a good save. It could be a long game for the Alaves keeper!
5'
Deulofeu has started the game well, the winger is putting early pressure on the Alaves defence and has a second shot at goal on target, whipping an effort in from the left but Pacheco in the Alaves goal, gathers it fairly comfortably. It's all Barca at the moment, with Alaves camped inside their own half.
3'
A first half-chance of the game falls to Barcelona as Deulofeu heads tamely into Pacheco's hands from Vidal's cross. Now the visitors are dominating possession and are looking for openings already.
2'
CHANCE ALAVES! Jordi Alaba gave away a silly free-kick right on the edge of the area, close to the right touchline and Alaves have a good early opportunity to get the ball into the box. The free-kick is fired at goal by Oscar Romero and forces Marc-Andre ter Stegen into making a good save. However the referee blows his whistle for offisde, so it wouldn't have counted anyway had it gone into the back of the net.
1'
We're underway! Can Alaves spring a surprise this afternoon or will Barcelona live up to favourites tag?
Hello and welome to our LIVE match commentary of the La Liga games between Alaves and Barcelona. Stay tuned for all of the team news!
Barcelona face a tricky test away to Alaves in La Liga this afternoon in what is a repeat of May's Copa del Rey final. Barca triumphed 3-1 in that game, however they did suffer a 2-1 home defeat against the Basque side last September. Newly appointed Barca boss Ernesto Valverde, started his playing career at Alaves and he will be hoping to make it two wins out of two in the domestic league.
Alaves' new coach Luis Zubeldia, who took the reins from Mauricio Pellegrino after he left for Southampton this summer, kicked off his reign last weekend, with Alaves suffering a 1-0 defeat by Leganes. Alaves impressed in La Liga last season, finishing ninth in the league and also reaching the final of the Copa del Rey. However, two of the Basques' best performers from the 2016-17 campaign were on loan and are now both at Real Madrid, Theo Hernandez signing from Atletico and Marcos Llorente returning to his parent club.
TEAM NEWS: Ousmane Dembele is set undergo a medical on Monday and sign a five-year contract from Borrussia Dortmund, Barca fans will be hoping he will be able to fill the void left by Neymar. Luis Suarez will miss todays clash as he is out for up to four weeks after suffering a knee injury in the second leg of the Super Cup against Real Madrid last week. However, Andres Iniesta should return to the side, along with Gerard Pique, who was only fit enough for the bench in their opening 2-0 win over Real Betis. Alaves defender Hector Hernandez is the hosts only injury doubt.
BARCA SUBS: Cillessen, Mascherano, Semedo, Digne, Paulinho, D. Suarez, Alcacer
BARCA (4-2-3-1): Ter Stegen; A. Vidal, Pique, Umtiti, Alba; Rakitic Busquets; Iniesta S. Roberto Deulofeu; Messi.
ALAVES SUBS: Antonio Sivera, Enzo Zidane, Santos, D. Torres, Burgui, R. Duarte, Maripan
The teams are out here, kick-off is almost upon us. Stay tuned for all of the match action!
The game is goalless at the interval, despite Barca's dominance in possession for such large periods of the game. Pacheco has been very busy in the Alaves goal, including pulling off a superb save to deny Lionel Messi from the penalty spot, after Ely fouled Pique in the area.
HALF-TIME: ALAVES 0-0 BARCELONA
FULL-TIME: ALAVES 0-2 BARCELONA
That's all from us tonight folks, we hope you enjoyed the game!
Overall a comfortable victory for Barcelona here against a tough and resilient Alaves side. Lionel Messi scored both of the goals tonight in the second period, despite missing a first-half penalty in a half which Barca were frustrated by their opponents.
Commentary
More…