Espanyol vs Barcelona LIVE - Scintillating Lionel Messi shines as Barca cruise to victory
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Your support makes all the difference.Barcelona inflicted further misery on Catalan rivals Espanyol when the sides met for their first derby of the season.
Lionel Messi was once again the star of the show, scoring a brilliant solo goal and a wonderful free-kick as Barca proved far too good.
Re-live all the action below.
What time does it start?
Espanyol vs Barcelona kicks off at 7:45pm (GMT)
Where can I watch it?
The match will be shown live on Eleven Sports 1 from 7:40pm and on their La Liga TV channel from kick-off. Fans can also watch the match on Eleven Sports through iOS mobile and tablet apps as well as on Android mobiles.
Highlights will be shown at 10:30pm on Eleven Sports’ La Liga TV channel.
Player to watch
Ousmane Dembele: It was yet another impressive outing for the Frenchman against Villarreal. He was far and away the most potent threat for his side, particularly in the first half when he assisted Gerard Pique for the opening goal. Espanyol will no doubt look to put more behind the ball in this derby, but Dembele’s pace could unpick such a tactic.
Form guide
Espanyol: LWLLLW
Barcelona: DLDWWW
Odds
Espanyol to win: 19/4
Barcelona to win: 13/25
Draw: 10/3
Prediction
Espanyol 1-4 Barcelona
Espanyol 0-3 Barcelona
50 minutes
Melendo finds himself with the ball at his feet in the box. Instead of shooting, though, he delays, tries to beat his man, but loses the ball and Barcelona clear.
Espanyol 0-3 Barcelona
54 minutes
Perhaps understandably, some of the intensity has gone from the game since the third goal. That effectively ended this as a contest, and Barcelona have dropped off in the second half. Espanyol deserve credit, though, for taking the game to the visitors.
Espanyol 0-3 Barcelona
55 minutes
A worrying moment for Barcelona. Messi is fouled 30 yards from goal and goes down clutching his ankle. But he's back up now, just as Suarez fires the free kick at the wall.
Espanyol 0-3 Barcelona
58 minutes
Lopez denies Messi to keep the score at 3-0. Dembele cuts inside, finds his path to goal blocked and feeds Messi, who looks to convert with his right foot. But his shot is too close to the goalkeeper.
At the other end, Espanyol break and Perez fires a low shot off. Ter Stegen gets down quickly and holds on to the ball.
Espanyol 0-3 Barcelona
59 minutes
That shot was Perez's last contribution for Espanyol. He's replaced by Leo Baptistao.
Espanyol 0-3 Barcelona
63 minutes
The hosts make another change: Garcia is on in place of Melendo.
GOAL! Espanyol 0-4 Barcelona (Messi)
65 minutes
Another free kick, another Messi goal. It's arguably even better than his previous effort, curled into the corner with power and precision. Lopez flew across his goal but, again, did not get close.
Espanyol 0-4 Barcelona
68 minutes
Iglesias tries to convert a cross at the near post but can't find the target.
Barcelona make their first change: Dembele, the scorer of Barcelona's second, is off for Coutinho.
Espanyol 0-4 Barcelona
70 minutes
Coutinho nearly scores within minutes. He finds space on the left, cuts inside and fires a shot which Lopez parries. Vidal follows up and picks out Messi, who heads straight at the goalkeeper.
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