Barcelona go top of La Liga with comfortable 2-0 win over Villarreal

Barcelona went top of La Liga with a comfortable, if not entirely convincing, 2-0 win over Villarreal at Camp Nou.

Ernesto Valverde was missing a number of key figures, with Luis Suarez, Samuel Umtiti, Arthur, Sergi Roberto and Rafinha all injured, but his patched up side got the job done to leapfrog Sevilla into top spot in La Liga.

Gerard Moreno came close to giving Villarreal the lead after just 14 minutes, rattling a shot off the base of the post after some uncertainty in the box from Clement Lenglet, but that was the closest the visitors ever came to posing Barca a problem.

Gerard Pique opened the scoring 10 minutes before the break, powering home a header from a corner kick. And substitute Carles Alena made sure of the result just three minutes before the end, getting on the end of a Lionel Messi through ball to clip a clever finish over Sergio Asenjo.

We all know that Messi can play the ‘false nine’ position to great effect. He basically pioneered the position, after all. But at 31, this is a role that no longer gets the best out of Messi. Barcelona have been less than convincing in their past few performances and it’s clear that they are missing having Suarez as their attacking focal point to play off. He brings the best out of everyone around him, especially Messi.

This performance offered the perfect illustration of Dembele as a player. He was lively throughout and provided Barcelona with an outlet from start to finish. It was clear from early on that the French winger was up for the game. However, for all the dangerous positions he worked his way into, the final product often let him down. Dembele remains an extremely raw talent, but he is a talent nonetheless and he showed that in this game.

Barcelona: Ter Stegen 5, Semedo 7, Pique 7, Lenglet 5, Alba 6, Rakitic 6, Busquets 8, Vidal 6, Coutinho 5, Dembele 8, Messi 7. Subs - Malcom 6, Alena 7.

Villarreal: Asenjo 7, Gaspar 5, Alvaro 6, Caseres 5, Ruiz 7, Gerard 6, Fornals 6, Trigueros 5, Pedraza 6, Cazorla 5, Chukwueze 6. Subs - Bacca 5, Raba 5, Ekambi 5.

14’ Off the post! The woodwork comes to Barcelona's rescue! Gerard made the most of some uncertainty in the Barca defence, putting his body in between the defenders and the ball. His powerful strike smashes off the base of the post!

35’ GOAL! Barcelona 1-0 Villarreal: There's the opener! Barcelona played a short corner, with Dembele playing the ball into the box. Pique got the run on his marker and powered a header into the back of the net. Barca have their noses ahead in this first half. It's probably what they deserve.

87’ GOAL! Barcelona 2-0 Villarreal: It was a pass through by Messi and it's a Messi-esque finish from Alena! The run from the 20-year-old was good, but the lifted finish over Asenjo was magnificent. Alena has a big future at Barcelona. Keep an eye out for him! Great goal.