Sunday 7 January 2018 19:36, UK
Goals from Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez and Paulinho saw Barcelona ease to a 3-0 victory over Levante on Sunday.
Philippe Coutinho was in attendance at the Nou Camp ahead of the completion of his move from Liverpool, and he saw Barca's big-money signing from the summer in Ousmane Dembele make his first start since September after a long injury lay-off.
It was, however, the familiar faces of Messi and Suarez who did the damage in first half, while Paulinho added a late third to as they extended their lead at the top of the table back to nine points over Atletico Madrid.
Barcelona took a little while to warm up on their return to La Liga action following the winter break, but they soon took the lead through Messi, who played a fine one-two with Jordi Alba before volleying home on 12 minutes.
The goal signalled the expected start of the domination of Ernesto Valverde's side, who controlled the rest of the half and doubled their advantage on 38 minutes as Suarez smashed home the ball, via a slight deflection, after being found in the box by Sergi Roberto.
Those goals were enough for Barca to see out the victory, as they largely played the second half in second gear. Suarez had a couple more chances to extend their lead, but found Oier Olazabal in good form in the Levante goal.
The away side did have a couple of opportunities on their own, and American right-back Shaquell Moore should have got a goal back after 65 minutes as he found himself in space in the box, but his effort was denied by Marc-Andre ter Stegen.
Messi was then the architect of the goal that sealed the win, dancing through the Levante defence in the third minute of second-half stoppage time, before teeing up Paulinho for an easy finish from six yards.
Not a vintage performance from Barcelona by any means, but Messi was his usual vibrant self, scoring the opener and proving a constant problem for Levante's defence.
Both sides are back in Copa del Rey action on Thursday night for the second legs of their last-16 ties. Barcelona host Celta Vigo after a 1-1 draw in the first leg, while Levante host Espanyol with a 2-1 advantage.
