Result: Real Valladolid 0-3 FC Barcelona
Date: 22 December 2020
Venue: Estadio José Zorrilla
Lionel Messi bagged a goal and an assist to inspire FC Barcelona to a 3-0 win over Real Valladoild in LaLiga action on Tuesday night.
Frenkie de Jong and Miralem Pjanic returned to the Blaugrana line-up, with Antoine Griezmann and Philipp Coutinho settling for a spot on the bench.
The visitors were eager to get back on the winning trail but had to wait until the 21 minutes for the opening goal when Clement Lenglet headed home Messi's cross.
The second goal arrived on 25 minutes as Sergino Dest managed to skip past his marker before picking out Martin Braithwaite, who made no mistake from close range.
Valladolid, meanwhile, were unable to test Barcelona shot-stopper Marc-Andre Ter Stegen as Ronald Koeman's charges dominated for most of the opening 45 minutes.
The hosts responded with a change at the start of the second half as Maranhao made way for Toni Suarez, but they almost found themselves three goals behind Braithwaite failed to connect with Jordi Alba's inviting cross.
The third goal eventually arrived on 65 minutes with Messi calmly slotting past Masip after latching onto a neat flick from Pedri. The goal also sees the Argentine overtake Pele with the most goals for one club (644).
With the visitors comfortably leading, the impressive Pedri made way for Coutinho in the final nine minutes while Griezmann was an unused substitute on the night.
The win sees Barcelona remain in fifth spot ahead of their final game of the year against Eibar next week Tuesday.
