There was an awful lot to admire about Barcelona’s performance at Alaves.
Though the hosts have fallen off the cliff in terms of their form, not so long ago Abelardo’s side were being talked about as an outside bet for a Champions League place.
All of the pre-match chatter centred around Lionel Messi being on the bench but Ernesto Valverde got his starting XI and substitutions spot on.
Philippe Coutinho is, evidently, getting some much needed confidence back, and on another night he would’ve scored at least one goal.
— FC Barcelona (@FCBarcelona) April 24, 2019
The movement and standard of passing for the most part was like watching the Barca of old too.