FC Barcelona 4-1 Huesca: result, summary, goals
Barcelona 4-1 Huesca: LaLiga as it happened
Peeep peeep peeeeep!
Barcelona leapfrog Real Madrid into second, and move to within four points of LaLiga leaders Atlético Madrid. That's 10 league wins in the last 11 for Ronald Koeman's men, who, having been 11 points adrift of Atlético a month and a half ago, are now right back in the title race.
Huesca stay bottom, four points shy of safety.
That's all from me - thanks for reading!
Galán wants a penalty after tumbling to the turf under Araújo's challenge, but he's not getting one.
Three minutes of time added on at the Camp Nou.
Goal! Messi has his second, and Barça have their fourth!
Galán and Ontiveros both send in dangerous crosses for Huesca, but when Barça break, Trincao touches it to Messi to cut in from the right and towards the box, before clipping a low effort past Álvaro and into the far corner.
That's his 130th brace in a LaLiga game, according to Movister+ reporter Ricardo Rosety.
Griezmann reaches LaLiga milestone
Antoine Griezmann's goal tonight was his 150th in LaLiga - he's only the second French player to reach that landmark in Spain's top flight.
Barcelona make a double substitution, bringing on Riqui Puig and Martin Braithwaite for Pedri and Ousmane Dembélé.
Trincão takes a real liberty just inside the Barça box, trying to dribble his way clear and losing it, giving Mir a chance to shoot. He curls right-footed towards Ter Stegen's far corner, but sends his effort just wide.
Over on the touchline, Koeman can be seen cursing Trincão's carelessness.
Rico turns well in the midfield and feeds Gómez, who sets off towards the Barça box at pace. It's looking like a promising incursion into the area... until he takes a heavy touch and sees the ball fizz behind for a goal-kick. A shame.
Huesca make a triple sub: Ferreiro, Maffeo and Ínsua are replaced by Vavro, Ontiveros and Pedro López.
Pedri slips in a lovely through ball to release Messi in behind the Huesca defence. He takes it round Álvaro, who has hared out of his area, but he's forced wide and can't find the empty net from what, in the end, is quite a distance. His effort drops onto the top of the net.
Dest and Griezmann are replaced by Ilaix Moriba and Francisco Trincão. Barça switch to a back four, Mingueza moving over to right-back.
Moments earlier, Dembélé had fed Messi inside the Huesca box, but as the Argentine twisted and turned in search of space to shoot, he was run off the ball by Seoane, before fouling the substitute.
Messi (centre) celebrates with Jordi Alba (left) and Pedri after scoring Barcelona's opener.
(Photo: David Ramos/Getty Images)
Sergio Gómez is straight into the action, receiving the ball just inside the area and pinging it back towards the penalty spot, where Griezmann gets a vital foot in.
Moments later, Huesca get their other sub, Seoane, into a dangerous crossing position, but this time it's Busquets who cuts it out, with Rico waiting to get on the end of the ball.
Barça also make a change, replacing De Jong with Ronald Araújo, who returns from injury.
Huesca makes a double substitution, Escriche and Doumbia making way for Sergio Gómez and Jaime Seoane.
Oh. My. What a miss. How has Mir not scored there?
Maffeo's right-wing ball is headed back across goal by Escriche, and all Mir has to do is direct it in from literally two yards. Somehow, though, he contrives to turn it over, having - for reasons best known only to himself - opted to chest the ball rather than head it.
Incredible.
Goal! Mingueza heads in and Barcelona re-establish their two-goal lead!
Barça take a corner short, Dembélé touching it back to Messi to cross. His ball flies right onto the forehead of Mingueza six yards out, and the defender nods down and into the net!
That's his first ever goal for Barcelona.
Jordi Alba hurts his shoulder after coming off second best in a challenge with Mir - who is an absolute unit, to be fair to Alba - but the left-back looks like he'll be fine.
Huesca clear Messi's whipped delivery and break, but Maffeo is dispossessed. Barça come right back at the visitors, and win another free-kick, this time in shooting territory for Messi.
His strike clips the top of the wall, though, and drops into the hands of Álvaro.
Barça pop it about for a good while before working it to the right to Mingueza, who is fouled by Escriche.
Escriche is boooked - the first yellow card of the night - and Messi will swing the free-kick into the box.
Peeeep! We're back up and running in Catalonia.
No changes for either side.
Peep peeep peeep! Mir's spot-kick is the final action of the first half. As referee Adrián Cordero Vega leaves the field, Koeman trots over to ever so politely enquire as to whether he's absolutely sure about that penalty decision.
That was a strange old half of football. On the one hand, Barcelona have looked like they could score at will. They could certainly have put more than just the two goals on the board.
But at the same time, Huesca have had moments in attack. They look capable of doing Barça damage when they counter at speed, and won their penalty on one such occasion.
The rather serious problem for the visitors is that even if they are capable of grabbing the odd goal or two, you'd put good money on them conceding another couple at least.
Mir will take it... and scores! He plants his kick firmly in the corner.
Having come close to going three down a few moments ago, Huesca are suddenly back in it!
Penalty to Huesca! Maffeo fires in a low, right-wing ball towards Mir, who can't connect with the cross. However, Ter Stegen sticks out an arm that catches Mir on the leg, and the German is deemed to have fouled the striker!
Busquets curls a ball from the right-hand channel over to Alba at the back post - but just as the left-back is winding up to meet the cross on the volley, Maffeo is there to take it off the left-back's toe!
De Jong very, very nearly scores a third! Alba bends in a beautiful cross from the left, slap-bang down the corridor of uncertainty. De Jong stretches to get the tip of his boot to it, sending the ball looping over Álvaro and onto the crossbar, before Huesca scramble it clear.
The visitors had looked half decent going forward, but they're starting to flirt with a pasting now. And let's not forget that they have a bit of form in that regard, having shipped eight on both of their previous trips to the Camp Nou.
Messi reaches 20 goals for 13th straight LaLiga campaign
Football stats specialists Opta note that Lionel Messi has now scored at least 20 goals in a LaLiga season 13 years in a row - a feat no other player had achieved.
Barcelona score a second, and again it's a stunner!
Pedri clips a reverse ball to Griezmann, who is given too much space to carry the ball forwards and shoot from 25 yards - and he makes Huesca pay, bending a precision strike right into the top corner!
Álvaro in the Huesca goal doesn't have a snowball's.
Jordi Alba hits the woodwork! The left-back almost celebrates his Spain recall with a goal, bursting into the Huesca box and aiming a thunderous strike towards Álvaro Fernández's left-hand top corner... but it bounces back of the corner of post and bar!
Here's another view of the "touching the sky" banner celebrating Lionel Messi's 767th Barcelona appearance, which equals Xavi Hernández's club-record tally.
(EFE/Toni Albir)
It's all Barcelona ball, but when Huesca break at speed, they look capable of hurting the hosts - and Maffeo goes close to pulling Pacheta's side level.
Mir does excellently to hold the ball up on the right wing and touch it to Maffeo with a neat backheel. The wing-back doesn't need a second invitation to head towards the Barça goal, advancing into the box and twisting into shooting space - but Ter Stegen gets down quickly to parry his effort! It was well struck, too.
Maffeo swings a cross from deep towards Mir inside the box, which Mingueza attempts to clear but succeeds only in turning behind for a corner to Huesca.
The corner comes to nought, but the visitors keep possession and enjoy what is really their first prolonged spell on the ball. it finally leads to a cross from the left to Mir, which Lenglet does well to deal with.
Messi took a bit of a knock a couple of moments ago and looked in a little bit of discomfort, but it seems like he'll be fine.
Messi isn't far away from a second. Dembélé leads a quick Barça break before slipping the ball left to the Argentine, who skips into the box and works a yard of shooting space... but directs his shot just over the crossbar!
What a goal, and what a way for Messi to celebrate his 767th appearance!
Antoine Griezmann had almost laid on an opening goal moments earlier, fizzing a low ball across the face of goal that no-one in a Blaugrana shirt could get to - but back came Barça, and Messi has opened the scoring with his 20th LaLiga goal of the season.
Spinning away from Huesca captain Pulido, Messi clips in a deft, curling shot from the edge of the box that flies in off the underside of the bar, and gives Fernández very little chance. Fantastic stuff.
Sergiño Dest gets the ball out of his feet on the right-hand corner of the box and lets fly - but Huesca keeper Álvaro Fernández beat the effort out.
Ousmane Dembélé touches the ball back to Lionel Messi, whose first-time pass looks to find Jordi Alba's run into the area - but there's a wall of Huesca shirts in front of the Argentine, and his ball is blocked.
Incidentally, Messi picked up February's LaLiga Player of the Month award before kick-off at the Camp Nou.
There was also a video celebrating Messi's record-equalling appearance for Barça, and (as you can see in the tweet embedded in the post below), there's a banner draped across the seats in one of the stands that reads: "767 games - touching the sky".
Frenkie de Jong is again playing as a centre-back in a three-man Barcelona defence, it appears.
It's all Barça ball for the first 90 seconds or so, until Huesca win it back and create the first opening of the night. Having stolen the ball deep in their half, the visitors launch it long to Rafa Mir, who is suddenly charging down the right at a back-pedalling De Jong.
Mir advances into the penalty box and strikes low towards Marc-André ter Stegen's far corner, but he doesn't hit it quite truly and the Barça goalkeeper is down to gather with ease. Still encouraging attacking play from Huesca.
Peeeep! We're underway at the Camp Nou.
Spain squad: Luis Enrique names Barça's Pedri among new faces
Pedri given maiden Spain call-up
By the way, Pedri starts for Barcelona tonight having been one of four uncapped players to get their first call-up to the senior Spain squad today.
The 18-year-old joined Brighton’s Robert Sánchez, Eibar’s Bryan Gil and Sporting CP’s Pedro Porro in receiving a maiden call from La Roja boss Luis Enrique.
Pedri’s club-mates Sergio Busquets and Jordi Alba were also included in the squad to face Greece, Georgia and Kosovo in World Cup qualifying this month.
Full story:
Barcelona vs Huesca: how and where to watch - times, TV, online
Barcelona vs Huesca: how and where to watch
If you're wondering how you can tune into tonight's game on the telly, take a look at our guide on how and where to watch:
Messi to equal Xavi's Barça appearance record
It’s a historic night for Barcelona captain Lionel Messi, who will equal fellow club great Xavi Hernández’s record of 767 appearances for the Blaugrana.
Messi, 33, is already Barça’s highest scorer of all time, having bagged a really pretty decent 658 goals for the club since making his first-team debut in late 2004.
"It is an incredible number of games," Barça boss Ronald Koeman told reporters on Sunday. "That also shows what Xavi did for the club, and now Messi will equal the number games of Xavi.
"It will be a great day and then the next that will be one more than Xavi achieved with Barcelona. It is incredible because that shows how important he is and was for Barcelona."
What the coaches said: Pacheta, Huesca
Getting a result at the Camp Nou:
"I don’t think it’s mission impossible. Anything can happen in football […]. We’re going there with high hopes."
Barcelona on a good run in LaLiga:
"We’re going to come up against a Barcelona side who are in good form. They have so many weapons in their arsenal. We have a phrase we say in our dressing room: don’t kiss the badge, honour it. We’re going to honour it right to the very end. We haven’t had a single game where we’ve stopped fighting tooth and nail. But we’ll need to put in the perfect performance to win - we know that."
What the coaches said: Ronald Koeman, Barcelona
Barcelona in position to move within four points of Atlético:
“We have to win on Monday first, but we’re closing the gap. There are no easy games, though. We mustn’t look at the table; we just have to focus on winning games. Concentrate on what we do and win every game. We can’t afford any more slip-ups.”
Rumours linking RB Leipzig boss Julian Nagelsmann with his job:
“That is a matter for the media. You have to fill the pages every day. I have a contract. We are improving many things and we have to continue."
Yet to have at-length talks with new president Joan Laporta:
"I have not spoken with the president yet because there are many games and it must be official that he is president. We spoke in Paris, but we have to meet later."
More from Ronald Koeman's pre-match press conference
(Photo: REUTERS/Gonzalo Fuentes)
Barça unchanged, Doumbia in for Huesca
Barcelona are unchanged from the side that started their midweek Champions League clash with Paris Saint-Germain, but it is thought that the hosts won’t be playing the same formation as at the Parc des Princes.
Ronald Koeman fielded Frenkie de Jong in a three-man defence in the 1-1 last-16 draw in Paris - which saw Barça go out of Europe’s premier club competition 5-2 on aggregate - but ESPN and Sport’s Samuel Marsden, whose insight on the Blaugrana tends to be spot on, reckons De Jong will return to the midfield in a 4-3-3.
Meanwhile, Huesca make one change to the team that lost to Celta Vigo in a 4-3 thriller last weekend, Idrissa Doumbia coming in for Jaime Seoane.
Huesca team news
Starting line-up: Álvaro, Pulido, Siovas, Ínsua, Maffeo, Ferreiro, Doumbia, Rico, Galán, Escriche, Mir
Substitutes: Andrés, Vavro, López, Gómez, Seoane, Mosquera, Juan Carlos, Borja, Ontiveros, Sandro, Okazaki
Barcelona team news
Starting line-up: Ter Stegen, Dest, Mingueza, Lenglet, Alba, Busquets, De Jong, Pedri, Messi, Griezmann, Dembélé
Substitutes: Araujo, Pjanic, Braithwaite, Puig, Neto, Trincão, Matheus, Umtiti, Junior, Ilaix, Tenas
Barcelona vs Huesca: preamble
Good evening!
Welcome to our live coverage of the final game of LaLiga matchday 27, as Barcelona host basement boys Huesca looking to bounce back from their midweek Champions League exit by cutting the gap on leaders Atlético Madrid.
Atlético’s draw with Getafe on Saturday means Ronald Koeman’s side, who are now 16 games unbeaten in the Spanish top flight, have the chance to move to within four points of Los Rojiblancos, having been a full 11 adrift at the start of February.
Were Huesca to win tonight, meanwhile, Pacheta’s men would climb off the bottom of LaLiga for the first time in 2021 and would find themselves just a point shy of safety.
That’s rather a big if, though, particularly given their record so far at the Camp Nou. In their two competitive visits to the ground, they’ve conceded eight on both occasions: in LaLiga in September 2018 and in the Copa del Rey in December 2014.