Barcelona vs Alaves Review
Barcelona secured a 3-1 victory over Deportivo Alavés in LaLiga, temporarily returning to the top of the league table and marking their eighth win in the last nine head-to-head encounters. Alavés stunned the Camp Nou within the first minute when Barcelona failed to clear a corner, and a mis-kick by Marc Casadó led to confusion, allowing Pablo Ibáñez to score. Almost immediately, Alavés nearly scored again within 60 seconds as the home team struggled to find their rhythm.
However, after seven minutes, Raphinha took Barcelona’s first shot on goal, and shortly after, Lamine Yamal scored the equalizer with a powerful strike into the top corner, following excellent play by the Brazilian down the left side. By the midway point of the first half, Barcelona had gained control of the match, although Alavés remained a threat on counterattacks, with Lucas Boyé standing out. Joan García was lying on the ground when he spectacularly managed to block Jonny Otto’s shot heading towards the goal.
Immediately after, Barça counterattacked, and Dani Olmo scored a second goal for the home team, assisted perfectly by Raphinha. As halftime approached, a long ball nearly caught the Alavés defense off guard, although the Brazilian reached the ball, visiting goalkeeper Antonio Sivera quickly came off his line to prevent the chance. A quick one-two between Robert Lewandowski and Yamal should have resulted in a third goal, but Yamal only managed to hit the base of the post. With Marcus Rashford added to Barça’s attack, the home side started the second half aggressively, but the visitors’ five-man defense made things challenging.
Lewandowski’s powerful close-range header forced a great save from Sivera, and shortly after, Yamal’s curling long-range shot went just over the bar as the hosts maintained their dominance. The home team kept pressing, with Olmo missing an easy chance, while Pedri’s introduction helped stop Alavés from advancing, despite efforts from former Barça players Denis Suárez and Carlos Aleñá. With just two minutes remaining in stoppage time and Alavés pressing forward, they were caught off guard once more when Olmo slid in to score the third goal.
This defeat is Alavés’ fifth away loss this season, meaning they have earned less than a third of their points on the road. Meanwhile, Hansi Flick’s team secured their fourth consecutive league victory, maintaining pressure on Real Madrid, who now sit two points behind with a game in hand.
