Eibar vs. Barcelona: Score, Reaction from 2016 La Liga Match

Barcelona moved a step closer to the Spanish title on Sunday, beating Eibar 4-0 at the Ipurua Municipal Stadium in La Liga.

Munir El Haddadi opened the scoring early in the first half, and Lionel Messi added a second just before half-time to down Eibar's spirits. The second half was low on action, but Messi made it 3-0 from the penalty spot with a clever Panenka, before Luis Suarez added a fourth goal late.

Per Bleacher Report UK, Suarez's goal marked the 100th across all competitions scored by the Catalans' attacking trio of the Uruguayan, Messi and Neymar:

The win moves Barcelona 11 points clear of Atletico Madrid in the standings, but the latter side still hold a match in hand, against Valencia.

As reported by Barcelona's official Twitter account, Neymar was suspended for Sunday's game, with Munir replacing him. Meanwhile, Arda Turan replaced Andres Iniesta:

Unsurprisingly, the Catalans immediately took control from the opening whistle, while Eibar defended with 10 players in their own half. The Basques came out with an aggressive game plan, and Josip Radosevic was booked after just five minutes, but their defence dropped so far back that the hosts were asking for trouble.

It took the Blaugrana just eight minutes to take advantage through Munir, who timed his run for the back post to perfection and easily slammed home a smart cross from Suarez. This fan shared footage of the goal:

"

Gol de Munir EIB 0 - FCB 1 pic.twitter.com/uChYm0LEPC

— Cule en la caverna (@living_FCB) March 6, 2016"

Per ESPN FC's Dermot Corrigan, it wasn't the youngster's most difficult strike:

Barcelona nearly doubled their advantage shortly after, but Suarez failed to keep his shot on target. At the other end, Eibar started to test Barca's aerial prowess, exposing a handful of flaws in the process.

Ivan Ramis easily overpowered his marker and fired a header just off target, their best chance of the match up until that point. David Junca also tried his luck, firing a shot over the bar. Spanish football expert Sid Lowe noted the Basques were finding some success in midfield, taking advantage of some uncharacteristic mistakes from Sergio Busquets:

Munir perhaps should have doubled his tally just after the half-hour mark following yet another stunning pass from Messi, but the Spaniard instead tried to play in Suarez and lost the ball. Meanwhile, Gonzalo Escalante fired a good chance wide for the hosts, who looked dangerous for spells of the first half but failed to threaten goalkeeper Claudio Bravo much.

Messi finally delivered Barcelona's second goal in the 41st minute, taking some of the pressure off the defence. Munir played him in, but Messi created the goal by himself, leaving the Eibar defender in his wake before slotting the ball home. BarcaBlaugranes shared footage of the goal:

Jordi Alba then failed to find Ivan Rakitic with a cross for the final chance of the half, as the score remained 2-0 after 45 minutes. Per Corrigan, Eibar did everything they could in that half, but Barcelona's remarkable form makes them close to unstoppable:

Suarez didn't enjoy his best outing on Sunday, despite his assist, and he illustrated that by pulling down Junca early in the second half and earning himself a booking. He could have made it 3-0 just a few minutes later, but instead opted to play in Messi, whose touch let him down.

The pace dropped tremendously in the second half, with Barcelona looking to control the ball and see out the match and Eibar seemingly not too eager to press forward and expose themselves to the counter-attack.

Messi tried his luck with a free-kick from 30 yards out and got the ball over the wall, but his effort landed right in the arms of goalkeeper Asier Riesgo.

The Argentina international found his second goal of the match shortly after, however, converting a penalty after Ramis was judged to have handled the ball. Messi produced a clever little chip to fool Riesgo, as you can see in this highlight: 

"

Messi GOAAAL!!!!

Eiber 0-3 Barcelona #EibarFCB #fcblive pic.twitter.com/cSiGAffBsV

— Krkic Nihn (@KrkicN) March 6, 2016"

The third goal effectively killed the match, and Barcelona were happy to introduce a number of substitutes, with Marc Bartra and Thomas Vermaelen entering the pitch.

Javier Mascherano was lucky to avoid a meaningless red card, as he clumsily took down Sergi Enrich, earning a yellow. Eibar pushed men up the pitch to try to score from the free-kick, and the Blaugrana took full advantage, as Sergi Roberto sent a clever ball over the top of the defence for Suarez to make it 4-0.

As shared by this fan, Suarez used his strength and technique to convert the chance:

The fourth goal was the final highlight of the match, as Barcelona cruised to an easy win over a spirited but overmatched Eibar squad.

Barcelona will host Getafe in their next La Liga match, while Eibar will travel to Madrid to take on Rayo Vallecano.  

Post-Match Reaction

Manager Luis Enrique thought his Barcelona squad played a "complete game," per the club's official website:

"

Just the other day we played a spectacular game, especially when we went back and analysed it, and today I think we were even better. We were very solid against a very tough team. We overcame their pressure every time they applied it thanks to how we were able to circulate the ball and our positioning.

It was a complete game.

"

Per La Liga's official Twitter account, Mascherano warned against complacency, pointing out there's plenty of football left to be played: "There are still 10 matches left when any slip up could allow our rivals to catch up."

Barcelona's lead in the standings looks enormous, but the season is far from over, as Mascherano rightly pointed out.

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