Lionel Messi Scores Twice and Misses Penalty as Barcelona Beat Alaves

Lionel Messi was the inspiration for Barcelona yet again, missing a penalty thanks to a superb save from Fernando Pacheco but going on to score twice as Ernesto Valverde's men beat Alaves 2-0 at Estadio Mendizorrotza on Saturday for another three points.                       

Messi was not to be denied, adding goals after the break in the 55th and 66th minutes to ensure new manager Valverde has six points from his opening two La Liga games.

Valverde again opted for Messi in a false-nine position, but somewhat surprisingly, he left Nelson Semedo out, despite the right-back's impressive La Liga debut in the 2-0 victory over Real Betis on Sunday.

Aleix Vidal came in for Semedo, with Sergi Roberto starting again, and ESPN FC's Dermot Corrigan neatly summarised the key changes to the Barca side:

It was also a landmark outing for Gerard Pique, as the defender was making his 400th appearance for the Blaugrana. The club was happy to celebrate the occasion ahead of kick-off:

Barcelona's best chance to open the scoring in the first half came a little over five minutes before the break when the visitors were awarded a spot-kick.

Messi whipped his free-kick into the box, with Pique going down under pressure from Rodrigo Ely. Spanish sports writer Kieran Canning felt the defender may have exaggerated the contact:

Up stepped Messi, but he could not convert, his low shot saved expertly by a diving Pacheco. Spanish football writer Sid Lowe felt the result was just:

Football writer Michael Yokhin also noted how the Alaves goalkeeper may have had extra motivation in wanting to keep a clean sheet, having previously been at Barca's bitter rivals, Real Madrid:

Pique was also then booked as the half drew to a close, joining Samuel Umtiti and Roberto on yellow cards and leaving the defence vulnerable, as Corrigan noted:

The second half started with Alaves almost opening the scoring within a minute of the restart. Mubarak Wakaso sent Ibai Gomez racing clear on the break, but his cross was inches away from a stretching Manu Garcia who could not convert.

Messi continued to look like Barcelona's best hope of a goal, and so it proved, with the Argentinian latching onto a pass from Gerard Deulofeu to open the scoring.

His shot took a heavy deflection as it deceived Pacheco at his near post and was a landmark strike for the Barcelona star:

A substitution swiftly followed the goal, with Paco Alcacer replacing Vidal as Valverde seemingly searched for more potency in attack and to make his side's dominance count.

It proved a timely change, as Alcacer had a hand in the second goal, intercepting a poor pass from Alexis to tee up Messi in the box. The 30-year-old star made no mistake, firing low and into the corner to double his side's lead. 

Messi, who hit the woodwork three times against Betis last weekend, was then denied by the upright once again, with a shot from inside the box.

Barcelona ultimately saw the game out with relative ease, Valverde even taking time to give new signing Paulinho—who arrived in the 88th minute as a replacement for Iniesta—his first minutes in a Barcelona shirt.

Indeed it was a comfortable win for the visitors, although the display highlighted once again how crucial Messi will be to their hopes of silverware this season following the departure of Neymar to Paris Saint-Germain.

However, Barcelona will be hoping to field Ousmane Dembele—and potentially more signings—when they resume La Liga action against Espanyol on Sept. 9 after the international break.