Phillippe Coutinho was on target in the 4-0 win against Osasuna for Barcelona on Sunday afternoon at the Camp Nou. It was a much needed win for the Catalan giants given that Real Madrid had slipped up against Alaves the earlier day.
Martin Braithwaite continued his impressive form for Barca and scored before the half hour mark to put his side in the lead. He already scored twice in midweek against Dynamo Kyiv.
Antoine Griezmann extended his side’s lead in the 42nd minute just before the break.
Alba placed a fine cross into the area and the forward met the ball and sent a shot past Herrera. That goal was his fourth of the season in all competitions and the forward received praise from Barca boss Ronald Koeman after the game.
Few minutes into the second half, Coutinho extended and made it 3-0. Griezmann won the ball back and gave a good pass in the way of the Brazilian who tried to assist Braithwaite. Facundo Roncaglia stopped the attempt, but his cleared effort only got to Griezmann who selflessly sent the ball to Coutinho to slot the ball home.
There was a blow for Barca with Lenglet taken off and was barely able to put weight on his ankle. That made Oscar Mingueza and Frenkie de Jong play in the centre back position and almost gifted Osasuna a goal but they could only hit the woodwork.
The fourth goal came in the 73rd minute with Lionel Messi’s name on the score-sheet. After scoring, he paid his tribute to the greatest Argentine player and football icon Diego Maradona.
He received a yellow card for donning a Newells’ Old Boy’s jersey but he didn’t seem to bother. In all, it was a convincing win for the Catalan giants.
