So, there we are then, Barcelona get the get the three points against Las Palmas in an entertaining contest, on a bizarre day in Catalonia. Lionel Messi scored twice after Sergio Busquets’s opener at an empty Camp Nou. Thanks for your company. Bye!
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One other thing amid all of today’s chaos around Camp Nou: there are unconfirmed reports that the Barcelona vice-president Carles Vilarrubí has resigned from his role following the decision to play their match against Las Palmas.
The players head down the Camp Nou tunnel, to what can only be described as a muted applause from a handful of staff and players in the dugouts. Messi’s 13th and 14th goals of the season ensure Barcelona are in total control in La Liga, top of the table after seven wins in as many matches. They have scored 23 goals this season and conceded just the two.
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Full-time result: Barcelona 3-0 Las Palmas
That was a very strange occasion. Las Palmas were quite magnificent for 45 minutes, but, four minutes into the second half Busquets scored a crucial opener for Barcelona. Then came a Messi double, and on another day he could have had a hat-trick.
90 min: There will be a couple of added minutes.
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89 min: Mascherano sniffs out another Las Palmas break forward and almost ends up in the opposition half. He’s been ace back there. Up the other end, Suarez flashes another effort wide. A shake of the head follows.
88 min: Messi swings it in, with Pique the target but he’s bullied off the ball by Lemos. Messi then picks it back up on the right, with Rakitic’s powerful shot goalwards blocked. Las Palmas look momentarily all over the place and it ends up with Suarez finding the net with an overhead-kick. But he’s offside.
87 min: Barcelona have themselves a corner. Can they find a fourth?
86 min: ‘If in doubt, get it out’ is the motto as Busquets comes flying forward. Las Palmas go back on the attack but they have lacked the killer instinct as such.
83 min: Iniesta off, with Gomes brought on. He looks down in the dumps as he comes off, but his touch of class has helped them all but win this one. He heads off after an impressive 40 minutes or so. That was all Valverde required from him. He did not look injured. Up the other end, Ousamma has just flashed one wide for Las Palmas.
82 min: Messi tries to return the favour, looping a through ball in for Luis Suarez but it’s just a little too long for him. Meanwhile, Andre Gomes, is readying himself for a cameo appearance off the bench.
80 min: Las Palmas might just employ a damage limitation mindset here. It would be a shame for them if Barcelona do go on to add a fourth or a fifth, because their first-half performance was really quite brilliant. They have been professional since, but they look a little knackered now.
78 min: Messi is almost in again but Chichizola comes way off his line to eventually claim the ball. That’s his 14th goal of the season – not bad going, eh?
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GOAL! Barcelona 3-0 Las Palmas (Messi, 77)
And there it comes! Some lovely one-touch football sees Messi pick up Suarez’s through ball and he tucks it home. Lovely stuff in the buildup, too, with Messi driving forward before Rakitic kept things moving. The noise outside Camp Nou ratchets up a notch or two.
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75 min: Barcelona are just playing the ball around without any real intentions of adding a third. They are waiting for the perfect opening, as opposed to rushing it as they were a little in the first half.
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72 min: Alba ghosts in down the left but his cross, drilled in from the left, is met by Chichizola. It was not a great ball in to be honest. Las Palmas get a corner, but Ter-Stegen bellows “OK!” before punching it clear. He’s after his seventh clean sheet of the season this evening ...
71 min: A protestor is hounded out by about 10 stewards. He made his way onto the pitch but he’s quickly escorted off. Quite how he got so far, given everything else, is a discussion for another time. Barcelona are cruising now. That was a lovely little goal by Messi.
GOAL! Barcelona 2-0 Las Palmas (Messi, 70)
Barcelona just begin to turn it on, with Rakitic initially having a shot blocked. Then Messi receives a fine reverse pass and rounds the goalkeeper before stroking it into the net. Chichizola, the Las Palmas goalkeeper, has been brilliant until now but he was made to look a little silly there.
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66 min: Alba floats in a brilliant, inviting ball for Suarez but before it gets to the striker, Lemos cuts it out. He’s had a decent game at the back for Las Palmas – so far at least. The frenetic pace of this match has slowed, with things seemingly calming down inside the empty Camp Nou a little.
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65 min: Messi picks up the ball centrally. He dribbles away from goal, past a sea of Las Palmas bodies, before shoving Iniesta out the way and unleashing a low shot at goal. It’s pretty comfortable for Chichizola, though.
62 min: Las Palmas have completed more passes than Barcelona.
59 min: Las Palmas have not really gone into their shells at all since falling behind. They continue to knock it around neatly, but they have lost a little momentum.
56 min: Denis Suarez does well, darting inside and away from his man but his decision to go solo sees him eventually stopped in his tracks. But Barcelona go again, with Rakitic drawing a foul 25 yards from goal. It’s played stupidly quickly by Messi, but Luis Suarez is a size 13 boot offside, after being threaded through.
55 min: Lemos sends a thundering free-kick at goal but it’s always rising. Barcelona have looked a little sleeker since the arrivals of Iniesta and Rakitic at half-time. Now Messi prods a header agonisingly wide, after superb play by Luis Suarez, dinking the ball back into the box for his team-mate.
54 min: Rakitic is penalised for a sliding tackle on Viera. Las Palmas have a free-kick in a decent position, 30 yards or so from goal.
53 min: Some mail. “It’s such a strange atmosphere,” says Kári. “Throughout the first half I heard an odd creaking sound every once in a while. At first I thought it was some kind of mic problem but then I realized it was the sound of doors opening and closing in the stadium. Also, I’m getting an education in Iberian swearing.” Me too ..
51 min: Penalt ... Luis Suarez is booked for diving, after rounding the Las Palmas goalkeeper Chichizola. A big call by the referee, Montero.
50 min: Barcelona have another glimpse of goal, with Messi forcing Chichizola into another save before Las Palmas go flying up the other end through Oussama. He does well but curls his effort just wide of goal, though.
GOAL! Barcelona 1-0 Las Palmas (Busquets, 49)
Messi swings in the corner and Busquets glances it home. He runs off to the opposite corner to celebrate, but there’s nobody for him to celebrate with, except his team-mates, the ball-boys and photographers.
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48 min: Barcelona have started this second half with a bounce. Rakitic sends a crashing, dipping volley goalwards but Chichizola keeps it out.
47 min: ... and Messi forces Chichizola into another decent stop! Messi wraps his foot around it from 30 yards. It’s on target but the keeper always has it covered, and makes a two-handed save. In terms of those changes, Paulinho and Vidal are the players that have made way for Barcelona.
46 min: Barcelona win an early free-kick, with Luis Suarez caught by Lemos. It’s a bruising challenge and the forward looks in pain. Messi gets ready to stand over it. He went close in the first half, beating the wall but not Chichizola, the Las Palmas goalkeeper.
The second half is almost upon us. The players are trudging out of the tunnel and out on to the pitch, to the wild noi ... where Ivan Rakitic and Andres Iniesta are going through their final warmups before coming on at Camp Nou. These changes by Valverde go some way to explaining how well Las Palmas did in that first half.
Las Palmas released an interesting statement before kick-off, announcing they would be wearing shirts with an embroidered Spanish flag – a one-off move. A quick delve into the politics of the Catalonia independence protests, then:
“We decided to embroider a small Spanish flag and today’s date, to testify without strings our hope in the future of this country and in the goodwill of those who live in it, in search of the best understanding,” it read. “No matter how far away is the Gran Canaria Stadium, we have never felt the least temptation to be part of a country other than this. And however complex the situation may be, we will always rely on simplifying it to better understand and find solutions.”
The scoreboard today at Camp Nou #BarçaLasPalmas pic.twitter.com/F76xwyU3AK
— FC Barcelona (@FCBarcelona) October 1, 2017
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Half-time: Barcelona 0-0 Las Palmas
Barcelona surround the referee as he blows the half-time whistle. Messi is in heated conversation, while Alba is among those given yellow cards in quick succession.
44 min: Tana’s high boot crashes into Sergi Roberto and gets a booking for his efforts.
42 min: Calleri rattles the post! It has been coming. Las Palmas are playing some lovely stuff, and this move culminates in them almost finding an opener. They eventually pull the ball out to the right flank, with Oussama making a great run before unselfishly cutting the ball back for Calleri. He hits it first time and the ball slams the upright. Barcelona have been warned ...
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39 min: The Barcelona technical area is very noisy at the moment. Valverde looks pensive but just about everybody else is barking, demanding more. Alba flies down the left, supplying Suarez but Lemos charges down his strike. Then Las Palmas put in another thundering challenge. They are winning most of the second balls out there. After 20 minutes under the cosh, they look pretty comfortable now.
38 min: Messi jinks his way past four Las Palmas defenders, but just when the outcome looks inevitable, the goalkeeper Chichizola gives him a fright.
37 min: Barcelona are just getting a little sloppy. A reminder that on the bench, there’s Umtiti, Rakitic and Iniesta. Plus, Andre Gomes. Plenty of options for Valverde, should he wish to alter things at the break.
35 min: Las Palmas are knocking the ball about like Barcelona. Lovely stuff. A burst down the right culminates in Tana almost finding Calleri but Pique just does enough. Calleri – believe it or not – is proving a real handful.
33 min: This match may be lacking atmosphere but it’s provided a decent, engaging contest so far. There have been a couple of meaty challenges and Las Palmas have no intentions of just rolling over here. Now Pique is booked: it’s a cynical challenge on Calleri, who is almost bagged in the process as the Barcelona defender clutches on to his shirt.
32 min: Paulinho heads just wide! He arrives very late into the box, to get on the end of Sergi Roberto’s cross. The Barcelona full-back made a lung-busting run to get to the byline before picking out the Brazilian. It is a free header and he should probably have done better. Just after, Paulinho is booked for clattering Chichizola, fouled while taking his goal-kick.
30 min: More good stuff from Las Palmas but the final ball in was slightly overcooked by Tana. Half an hour in, and a reminder that this game is being played behind closed doors at the Camp Nou.
29 min: Paulinho finds Jordi Alba in acres of space down the left flank. He whips the cross in but Las Palmas clear the ball for a corner. Barcelona look to revive their impressive start but from the set-play Pique gets his nose pushed out by not one but three Las Palmas defenders.
28 min: Sergi Roberto dives in to prevent Barcelona from trailing. Las Palmas are patient in their buildup, with Oussama played in by a fabulous acute reverse ball. He drives on to it but as he squares the ball, it’s cut out by the right boot of the Barcelona full-back. Valverde’s side are on the back foot here.
27 min: It’s all Las Palmas at the moment.
25 min: Calleri is everywhere at the moment. He does well to earn Las Palmas’s first corner of the afternoon before getting on the end of it too. He takes the ball down magnificently before getting a shot away at goal. It deflects wide and Barcelona get it away, but this is certainly encouraging for the visitors.
24 min: Busquets gets caught in possession. Calleri does brilliantly to close down his man and get a challenge in. Perhaps he needed the 90,000-plus crowd to warn him of Calleri’s pending presence there.
23 min: Las Palmas are knocking it about nicely, with captain Jonathan Viera trying to dictate things centrally. Then Oussama gets hold of it and the Moroccan sends a powerful strike goalwards. Ter-Stegen has to save it, but it’s pretty comfortable.
21 min: Chichizola is a busy man at the moment. After saving Messi’s free-kick, he now chases Denis Suarez away from goal after a long, looping ball over the top. The Las Palmas keeper did as much as scare the forward away from goal there, just as it looked as if he was about to skip away from him.
19 min: Messi is clattered. You could tell as much by the noise of a Las Palmas boot smacking his shin-pad. The Argentinian gets up to take the free-kick and he almost finds the very apex of Chichizola’s goal but the goalkeeper pushes it clear. The rebound is inviting but Las Palmas clear.
18 min: Luis Suarez plays in Denis Suarez and it’s a beautiful little ball through but it’s just too quick for the latter. Then Vidal goes crashing down in the box but there’s nothing doing there. He lost control of the ball and then took a little tumble.
16 min: Las Palmas break on the counterattack through Calleri, who dodges past Pique before supplying Hernan. It all ends rather abruptly and Barcelona go up the other end, with Messi charging towards goal. Then Busquets joins in, but he gets sloppy and loses the ball.
15 min: The Las Palmas technical area are making lots of noise. And that’s because they again gift the ball back to Barcelona, who are pretty nifty in possession.
13 min: Vidal is played in by Suarez but Las Palmas do well to shepherd him away from goal. Barcelona are cruising at the moment, albeit with the scoreline still goalless.
12 min: Alberto Aquilani looks for the run of Jonathan Calleri over the top, but it’s cut out. A painful Premier League throwback of sorts.
10 min: It is role reversal for a moment with Las Palmas enjoying plenty of possession. You can hear every thud of the ball, as its passed around the field.
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9 min: This atmosphere is all very odd. But Barcelona seem pretty comfortable on the pitch, in what feels and looks like an exhibition match at the moment. Roberto is finding lots of joy down the right flank. Messi has had a busy start too.
7 min: Messi tries to play a one-two with Alba but its cut out. They are soon back it though because Las Palmas gift it back to the opposition. Then comes a great chance, with Suarez slid through on goal by Messi. He leans an inch offside but his shot is saved anyway. That looked destined for the back of the net.
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5 min: Sergi Roberto goes up the other end and tests the Las Palmas goalkeeper from 20 yards out. It’s a shot on target. You can hear every word that Ernesto Valverde is saying, although I cannot necessarily understand it.
4 min: Borja shoots wide. It was the sort of driving shot from distance that would usually draw a few gasps from the away supporters. Not today.
3 min: Jonathan Calleri, once of West Ham United, is leading the line for the visitors. Loic Remy is part of this team too, but he’s injured today. Lovely stuff.
2 min: Jordi Alba swings the ball in from the left but Chichizola scoops it up. It’s eerily quiet, you can hear every bark from the touchline.
Here’s some – belated – teams:
Barcelona: Ter-Stegen, Roberto, Pique, Mascherano, Alba; Vidal, Busquets, Paulinho; Messi, Suarez, Denis
Las Palmas: Chichizola, Michel, Ximo, Lemos, Borja, Aquilani, Hernan, Viera, Tana, Oussama, Calleri
Peeeeeeeeeep!
We’re off ... but the Camp Nou is empty.
Barcelona released a statement condemning the violence, but confirmed their match this afternoon would go ahead – behind closed doors.
“FC Barcelona condemn the events which have taken place in many parts of Catalonia today in order to prevent its citizens exercising their democratic rights to free expression,” read a club statement.
“Given the exceptional nature of events, the Board of Directors have decided that the FC Barcelona first team game against Las Palmas will be played behind closed doors following the Professional Football League’s refusal to postpone the game.”
The Catalan Football Federation had already suspended all matches due to referendum, but FC Barcelona are not under their jurisdiction.
Earlier today, Las Palmas announced a Spanish flag had been sewn onto their kit for the game to show support for “the unity of Spain.”
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Ben will be here soon enough. Until then, get the lowdown on those clashes that have not postponed this match, but forced it to be played behind closed doors:
