La Liga 2016/17: Granada 1-4 Barcelona - 5 talking points
Barcelona recorded a comfortable 4-1 win over Granada to keep their slim title hopes alive and maintain the pressure on league leaders Real Madrid. The Catalan giants find themselves 2 points behind Los Blancos – albeit having played a game more.
Luis Suarez opened the scoring for the away side with an outrageous chip before Chelsea loanee Jeremie Boga equalised for the relegation-threatened outfit. Barcelona looked to be in a spot of bother but goals from Paco Alcacer, a deflected strike by Ivan Rakitic and a volley from Neymar helped them get the 3 points and pile further misery on the 19th placed team.
Here are the major talking points from the La Liga encounter:
#1 Paco Alcacer may finally be coming good
A lot has been said about Paco Alcacer’s dismal stint with Barcelona so far, having scored only 3 goals and assisted another 2 since making the £30 million move to the Camp Nou outfit. The Spaniard was not supposed to play such a pivotal part in the game as he was named on the bench by Barcelona manager Luis Enrique.
However, a potentially season-ending injury to Rafinha – who had started in the absence of Messi – less than 20 minutes into the game provided the 23-year-old with the opportunity to prove his worth to the team.
Alcacer scored the second goal to put his side ahead in the tie before setting up Neymar for the last goal. The Blaugrana have a hugely important one month ahead of them, which can make or break their season – both in the league and the UEFA Champions League. Given the meniscus injury to Rafinha, this might be the perfect time for the former Valencia man to come good and win over the Barcelona fans.