Full-time: Barcelona 6-0 Sporting Gijon
The referee puts Sporting out of their misery. Barcelona go top after being off the perch for around six hours. Suárez scored four for a second game running after a much-improved second-half performance in which Sporting just ran out of gas. Vranjes should appeal against his sending off, though. He didn’t even appear to foul Neymar for the third penalty so a booking was a very harsh decision. They remain in the bottom three. What a strange game. It didn’t look like it was going to turn into a shellacking. It did. Football is a cruel world. Suárez has now scored 54 goals in all competitions too. Not bad. Thanks for your emails. Goodnight.
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90 min: There’ll be two more minutes of suffering for Sporting. Poor Halilovic has had his confidence shredded by his parent club.
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Goal! Barcelona 6-0 Sporting Gijon (Suárez 88)
Suárez scores four goals for a second game running. This is ugly for Sporting, though. They’re all over the place. Messi zips a pass into the box, where Suárez is free. He takes one touch and looks to curl it around Cuellar but instead whips it in off the near post. This is a proper mauling now.
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Goal! Barcelona 5-0 Sporting Gijon (Neymar 86 pen)
Neymar stutters as he runs up and and scuffs a weak penalty somewhere between the middle of the goal and the left-hand corner. It dinks into the keeper’s legs and goes in. That didn’t deserve a goal.
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Penalty for Barcelona … again!
Vranjes touches Neymar ever so lightly as the two jump for a header in the box. Neymar appeals for a penalty, and gets it. Soft decision. Vranjes is sent off for a second bookable offence too. That’s dreadful. Poor sod.
83 min: Castro is on for Guerrero. Sporting look absolutely shot. Earlier, when Perez went off after about 60 minutes, he’d already run 8.5km. That kind of figure is usually seen after around 80 minutes.
81 min: Surprising stat of the day …
1 - Iniesta hadn't delivered an assist at Camp Nou in La Liga since March 2014 (vs Celta). Return
— OptaJose (@OptaJose) April 23, 2016
79 min: “I’m sitting at home nursing my vocal chords after shouting myself hoarse at Rayo Vallecano,” begins Christian Dugdale Astbury. “It was absolutely rocking in the ground and in the first half I and thought they were going to do it after an incredible start. No-one throws a two goal lead away quite like Rayito though and sadly it ended the way Rayo games often do … losing to a late winner after a howling error. I think I might have pulled the girl who sits near me though. I’ve fancied her all season. Rayista love would make up for Rayista defeat.” What a lovely tale Christian. Barça fans are doing the Mexican wave. They’re in a loving mood again all right. Their team are toying with Sporting now.
Goal! Barcelona 4-0 Sporting Gijon (Suárez 76 pen)
It’s No32 in the league for the season for Suárez and his hat-trick. That takes him above Ronaldo. Oh Ronaldo will love that. This time Suárez goes down the middle as Cuellar dives in the direction of his last penalty. A game that was over is even more over.
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Another penalty to Barcelona!
Sanabria elbows Neymar off the ball in the box. It’s daft rough-house stuff. Suárez to take it again …
Goal! Barcelona 3-0 Sporting Gijon (Suárez 74 pen)
Suárez curls it into the top-right corner in a style reminiscent of Danny Murphy. You don’t stop them. Penalties eh? Barcelona are usually so bad at them. The penalty was given for handball when Alves lofted the ball into the raised arm of a Sporting defender whose name escapes me. Sorry. It was no more a penalty than the last two.
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Penalty to Barcelona!
It’s a handball. Well one was going to be given eventually wasn’t it?
71 min: Hernández is booked for getting a handful of Neymar’s shirt. A moment later Neymar shows some silky skills with a little touch and dink to set Messi free in the box, but he slams the ball into an onrushing Sporting defender.
69 min: If it was all Barcelona before that second goal, it’s even more all Barcelona now. Rakitic hits a swerving shot towards the top-left postage stamp but it dips just wide. Back they come …
67 min: Two days ago an emotional Suárez received a shirt from a young Phenylketonuria sufferer. He said he would dedicate a goal to her if he scored. He did just that by displaying the T-Shirt with a supportive message on it after his goal. Well done Luis.
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65 min: There was a hint of offside about Suárez but it was just that, a hint. The angle didn’t make it clear. Some housekeeping, Perez is off for Sporting and Sanabria is on. And Pique is off for Barcelona and Bartra is on in his stead.
Goal! Barcelona 2-0 Sporting (Suárez 63)
Well, this is more like vintage Barça. Busquets picks up possession deep in the Barça half. He finds Messi in space in the centre circle. Messi scurries forwards and draws two Sporting players out of defence, and then plays in Iniesta on the left side of the penalty area, who picks out Suárez at the far post with a low cross. It’s a lovely sweeping move. Well done everyone.
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61 min: Barça win a corner after Messi drives an optimistic free-kick into the top of the wall from all of 30 yards.
58 min: Neymar is picked out on the far side of the box. His first touch is hesitant as he shifts the ball on to his right foot and, well, you know the rest. Cuellar saves and Neymar continues to splutter like a petrol car running on diesel.
57 min: Well this is weird. Barça should have a penalty. A strike, by Rakitic I think, clatters into a Sporting defender’s arm and out for a corner. No Barça player even appeals for a penalty. Strange.
55 min: Barça are getting up a head of steam here. Iniesta, who has been quiet tonight, blasts over and then Messi finds his turbo button and darts into the box, where he dares a Sporting defender to tackle him before shifting the ball on to his wand of a left foot and driving just wide.
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53 min: Neymar is sent scuttling free down the inside-left channel again. This time he picks out a decent ball inside the backtracking Sporting defence. Messi dummies the ball and lets it roll through to Suárez behind him. The Uruguayan has a bit of time but chooses to loft the ball towards the far corner (badly) when thwacking it as hard as he could was surely the better option. Wasteful.
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52 min: It’s a big night for potato snacks. “Eating too much cake and crisps at a birthday party,” splutters Henry Carter. “Trying to follow the football at the same time!” Are you eight years old Henry? Shouldn’t you be in bed?
50 min: “Dani Alves on - disappointingly wearing the Barcelona kit, and not a silver wig, leather lederhosen or platform soles. Perhaps it took Luis Enrique the length of the first half to persuade him to take them off,” honks Charles Antaki.
48 min: Alves crosses into the box but Suárez jumps into Cuellar and a free-kick is given against the Sporting keeper. There are 21,000 empty seats at the Camp Nou tonight. There’s still 77,000 there, mind.
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46 min: Sporting have been trying to ape the Rory Delap throw-in tactic tonight. The few they have had in forward positions on the right have been flung in at high velocity and flat towards the penalty spot by Hernández. They haven’t really got the giants in the box to really bother Barcelona, though.
45 min: Dani Alves is on in place of Sergi Roberto. Presumably Luis Enrique has now forgiven him for pretending to be his own girlfriend in a video playing down the club’s Champions League elimination. He’s a colourful fella, for sure.
“I’m eating Quavers,” responds John Carnie, a man of few words and a fan of snacks with few calories. Not a particularly satisfying Saturday night treat John.
Here’s a grab of the Pique ‘handball’. Seen here it looks like a penalty should be given. But when you see it in motion it’s less clearcut.
Piqué, bajo palos. El Sporting reclamó mano del central azulgrana. pic.twitter.com/nefrrl0b5t
— La casa del fútbol (@casadelfutbol) April 23, 2016
What are you doing this Saturday evening, I asked. Here’s what you are doing …
“My evening has been spent comforting Evertonians,” deadpans Ian Copestake.
“Saturday afternoon (Americas time), writing my usual 15,000 word report to clients on the week’s events in my boring corner of the business world. Guardian MBM keeps me from falling asleep at the keyboard. You think your life is boring,” asks Mark Turner. 15,000 words Mark? That’s truly horrible. Sorry to hear that.
“I’m eating crisps,” offers John Carnie. Erm, OK John. What flavour?
Half-time
Barcelona dominated but it could easily be 1-1. This hasn’t been a classic Barça display at all and Sporting deserve credit for making the Spanish champions struggle. They’ve been stubborn opponents who are willing to break. There’s a reason for that. They’re fighting for their life at the bottom. They need something from this.
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45 min: Sporting claim a handball against Pique as the half draws to a close. Bravo makes a hash of trying to claim a low, whipped-in cross from the left. Mascherano clears off the line and then the impressive Halilovic keeps it alive by knocking the ball across the box, where it bounces into what looks like a combination of Pique’s arm and midriff. It’s a decent penalty shout but I can understand why it wasn’t given on first viewing. And peep! That’s that for the half.
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42 min: Messi shapes to dink a ball over the top to Neymar before instead conjuring a delightful low pass inside Vranjes to find Neymar in the same position as he was in just a a moment ago. The Brazilian is one-on-one with Cuellar, but he hesitates and the Sporting keeper smothers the ball. The angle was tight, mind.
40 min: Now Barcelona create something. Neymar times his run behind Vranjes perfectly and is picked out brilliantly by Rakitic. He cuts inside and shapes to shoot, one, two, three times, as he dances across the box and allows at least five Sporting defenders to get in front of him, before pulling the ball back to Suárez, whose shot from 10 yards is deflected over. Neymar really should have just let one go then.
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38 min: Sporting have had a decent spell of it in the past 10 minutes. For all Barça’s possession they’ve created very little and Sporting have looked to break when they can.
33 min: Sporting have some success on the left as first Vranjes gets forward and tries to cut a ball back into the box that is cut out – and then Menéndez flashes a shot wide after a delicious, whipped-in ball finds him at the far post but it bounces up wickedly as he shapes to hit it and makes taming it near-impossible.
30 min: Mascherano sends Neymar scurrying off up the left wing. He cuts inside and works himself into a decent position but his cross is misplaced and Sporting clear. Neymar’s just a little out of tune with the rest of his team-mates at present. Has he had something to do with Barça’s poor form before the Deportivo game? Everything seems to be bouncing off him like the Neymar that everyone was critical of before he became the Neymar that everybody lauded.
27 min: Sporting win a free-kick wide on the right in a promising position. The free-kick is so bad that the clearance almost sends Messi, Neymar and Suárez through on goal in the other direction. Are set-piece crosses and corners much worse these days or do players try too hard to whip the perfect ball in to the box instead of just a decent one?
25 min: There’s a lull. What are you doing with your Saturday night? Go on, make me jealous.
23 min: Neymar rolls around a bit after what looked on first viewing like a reasonable tackle from Vranjes. On second viewing he actually follows through after deflecting the ball out for a throw-in and you don’t seem to be able to do that in professional football any more. Oh well. Vranjes is then booked after trying to undress Neymar as we was accelerating away from the full-back a moment or two later.
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22 min: … where the tricky Croatian Barcelona loanee Halilovic shows commendable youthful exuberance by jinking left and right before having a go from 30 yards. It’s a decent hit that is deflected over. Corner for Sporting. A corner that is woefully underhit.
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20 min: Barcelona are starting to turn up the pressure here. Rakitic tries to loft a ball over the Sporting defence to Neymar, but it’s just cut out before the Brazilian can get to it. Sporting break …
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18 min: Sid Lowe has a little more news on the Diego Simeone sending off. It wasn’t actually the Atlético manager who threw a second ball on to the pitch, as was reported earlier.
Simeone says ref right to send him off, although it was ball boy by bench who threw ball on (not him or his staff). Seems to expect a ban.
— Sid Lowe (@sidlowe) April 23, 2016
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16 min: Cuellar shows a much better skillset now, as Messi latches on to a knockdown from Suárez and fizzes a low shot towards the bottom corner that the goalkeeper does very well to keep out with a strong left arm.
14 min: It was an awful bit of goalkeeping by Cuellar. He came out under a bit of pressure from Suárez to punch clear a lofted ball into the box but only palmed it into the ground where it bounced up to Messi just inside the box, who headed over the stranded goalkeeper. How much do Gijon lament that miss now? Cuellar actually looked a bit scared and had an odd body shape with his knee raised. He claimed his ankle had been caught by Suárez after he saw the ball sail over him. The crowd then stand as one and applaud in the 14th minute to honour Johan Cruyff.
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Goal! Barcelona 1-0 Sporting Gijon (Messi 12)
And that’s his 40th of the season.
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9 min: Sporting have a great chance to go a goal up but don’t take it. Guerrero nicks the ball past Pique, who showed a lack of awareness and rushed out of defence to nick the ball, but was second in the race with the Sporting forward. Guerrero scampered forwards and squared the ball to Menendez, just outside the six-yard box, but he sidefooted his shot straight at Bravo. The ball was just behind him, in fairness.
7 min: Barcelona are, as you’d expect, dominating possession but Sporting aren’t making it easy for them. They’re snapping away and pushing high up to try to nick possession. It could be costly if Barça can pick a ball in behind them, but this has been a decent and energetic start by the struggling visitors.
5 min: Busquets is lucky not to be booked for a stupid, late tackle on Lichnovsky. His trailing leg caught the Sporting player and knocked him to the turf. There are ways to show you care. That wasn’t one of them.
3 min: Sergi Roberto, who has taken a bit of flak for his defensive performances, plays instead of Dani Alves again tonight. He is allowed acres of space on the right, where he gathers possession and whips a dangerous ball behind the Sporting defence only for Messi to head over. It was too high for him, mind.
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Peep!
1 min: We’re under way. Barcelona in their usual home ‘hoops’ are kicking from left to right on my screen. Sporting, in bright yellow, are going t’other way. Barcelona have a brief foray forwards but it comes to nothing and it’s a goal-kick. It’ll get better. Don’t worry.
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The Barcelona anthem quivers through the Catalan evening air as the teams emerge at Camp Nou. It’s sung reasonably heartily too. Maybe the fans are up for this one. We’re almost ready for kick off.
For all the intimidating vastness of the Camp Nou, it’s never the noisiest place for matches that Barcelona are fully expected to win, such as tonight’s. Will that be different given that Barça are now, after today’s results, lagging behind the Madrid clubs? It would help if when noise is generated, it didn’t drift off up into the air and disappear. The club has a remedy for that. An expensive one. Barça are going to add a further 5,000 seats and put a snazzy roof on the stadium. It will look mighty impressive. Here’s a very nice video showing how the work will be done as the team continues to play throughout the four seasons of work.
Matchday omen alert! “I would like to point out that each time Barcelona lost in the last three league games the opposition had beaten Sevilla right before,” points out Animesh Joshi . “4-1 to Madrid. 2-1 to Sociedad. 2-1 to Valencia. Odds on a Gijon win by one goal?”
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Atlético Madrid have beaten Málaga 1-0 and are now top of La Liga on 82 points. Real Madrid are second on 81 points and Barcelona are third on 79 points. Right, now that bit of admin is out of the way I can now confirm Barça need to win to go top on their head-to-head record against Atlético.
That Atlético win may come at a cost to their manager, Diego Simeone, who will could face a suspension for the rest of the season after trying to halt a late Málaga counter-attack by kicking a second ball on to the field. That’s such a Simeone thing to do.
Anything goes at Atleti. Malaga break quickly, so the home bench throws a ball on the pitch to put attackers off. pic.twitter.com/lldc9mgQoy
— Christian Machowski (@Christian_ESEM) April 23, 2016
Hello. The bad news for Barcelona is that they are no longer top of La Liga. The Madrid clubs have made the most of Barça’s form dropping off a cliff after their clásico defeat and have overhauled them. Real Madrid came from two goals down to beat Rayo Vallecano 3-2 earlier thanks to Gareth Bale doing a good Cristiano Ronaldo impression. Atlético are still in action against Málaga as I type but if they draw or win that game (they’re currently 1-0 up) then Luis Enrique’s side will be third and need a victory regardless. The good news for Barcelona is that they are playing third-bottom-of-the-league Sporting Gijon and the Catalans come into this game on the back of an 8-0 win against poor old Deportivo. If they’d have spread those goals around a bit over their previous four league games they wouldn’t be in a sprint to win the title, they’d be wearing their slippers, strolling along puffing on their pipe, easy as you like. But they’re not.
Lionel Messi hasn’t suffered any lasting damage after being kicked around the Riazor like a bean bag, so he starts. But Luis Enrique is without the injured Sandro Ramirez, Thomas Vermaelen and Jeremy Mathieu. Sporting Gijon enjoyed a fine victory over Sevilla last time out and will have at least a smidgin of confidence coming into this.
Team news
Barcelona 13 Bravo 3 Piqué 4 Rakitic 5 Sergio 8 Iniesta 9 Suárez 10 Messi 11 Neymar 14 Mascherano 18 Jordi Alba 20 S Roberto Subs: 1 Ter Stegen 6 Alves 7 Arda Turan 12 Rafinha 15 Bartra 17 Munir 21 Adriano
Sporting Gijon (delivered via secret cinema)
🎥 XI SPORTING: Hoy jugamos con este once inicial ante el @FCBarcelona_es 💪🔴⚪🔴⚪ #PuxaSporting pic.twitter.com/GyeC9Ff73F
— Real Sporting (@RealSporting) April 23, 2016
Sporting: Cuellar; Vranjes, Luis Hernandez, Lichnovsky, Isma López; Mascarell, Rachid; Pablo Perez, Halilovic, Álex Menéndez; Guerrero Subs: Dennis, Sergio Alvarez, Lora, Canella, Carlos Castro, Carmona and Sanabria Referee: Clos Gómez
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Gregg will be here soon.
