Eibar vs Barcelona. Spanish La Liga.
Estadio Municipal de IpuraAttendance5,941.
Sunday 6 March 2016 21:37, UK
Lionel Messi scored twice as Barcelona eased to a 4-0 victory at Eibar on Sunday.
Munir El Haddadi wasted no time in putting Luis Enrique's side ahead after eight minutes, and Messi doubled their lead just before half-time.
Messi then added a penalty in the second half after Eibar defender Ivan Ramis was deemed to have handled in the area, before Luis Suarez notched a late fourth.
The win maintains Barcelona's eight-point lead at the top of La Liga after Atletico Madrid won 3-1 at Valencia later on Sunday.
It took less than 10 minutes for Barcelona to carve Eibar open for the first goal at the Ipurua. Messi dinked one over the top of Eibar's defence into the path of Suarez, and his pinpoint low ball across the six-yard box was tapped home by Munir at the far post.
Barcelona were on top and had plenty of chances to make it two, but Eibar were not without opportunities of their own in the first half to pull level.
Ramis should have at least hit the target with his unmarked header from Josip Radosevic's cross after 12 minutes, and just after the half-hour mark Gonzalo Escalante steered a volley wide after finding space at the far post.
But moments after Sergio Busquets nearly put through their own net, Barcelona notched their second. Eibar's defence should have done far better than allow Messi to keep running at them without putting a tackle in, before the Argentine pulled it onto his left foot in the box and fired low past goalkeeper Asier Riesgo.
The second half was largely a procession for Barcelona, who took their foot off the gas and just looked to control the game from deep.
But they still had time to score two more as Messi calmly converted from the spot in the 76th minute, and Suarez added a late fourth after nutmegging Ander Capa in the box before finishing into the bottom corner.