Hansi Flick’s Barcelona will head into the second international break of the season three points clear at the top of the La Liga table, thanks to a hard-fought 3-0 win away to Alavés on Sunday afternoon in the Basque Country. After a nearly perfect opening half-hour the Catalans had to survive quite a few scares in the final period, but a Robert Lewandowski hat-trick was enough to give them all three points and get back to winning ways in the league after last week’s defeat to Osasuna.

FIRST HALF

The first seven minutes of the contest were pure chaos: in the fourth minute Barça had a goal disallowed thanks to a narrow offside on Lamine Yamal before Raphinha found the back of the net; two minutes later Ferran Torres went off with an apparent hamstring injury and was replaced by Eric García, and a minute after that Robert Lewandowski headed home a cross from Raphinha to put the visitors in front.

It was a crazy start to proceedings, with Barça establishing their dominance in the opening moments while Alavés had to change their plans on the fly and could no longer defend as close to their goal as they wanted early on. The home team was suddenly more aggressive with their press and tried to win the ball back high up the pitch, but Barça did a good job of not losing possession easily close to their own area.

The Catalans also knew how to counter-attack when Alavés left too much space in behind, and that’s how they found their second goal: Raphinha pulled off a brilliant dribble move in his own half and went on a one-man counter-attack before giving Lewandowski the easiest of tap-ins to double Barça’s lead.

The Brazilian almost made it 3-0 just a few seconds later when a long ball from the back put him one-on-one with Antonio Sivera, but the keeper made a crucial save to keep his team alive in the match. Barça were in complete control 25 minutes in, and Alavés looked totally out of ideas.

Barça remained relentless in their pursuit of more goals given the level of their superiority, and at the half-hour mark they pretty much put the game to bed thanks to a beautiful assist by Eric García to find Lewandowski, who had time and space inside the box to pass the ball into the bottom corner and complete a first half hat-trick.

Alavés took more risks in the final 10 minutes of the period looking for a way back in the game, and Toni Martínez scored a nice header just before halftime to do just that. However the goal was disallowed for an offside in the buildup, and Barça maintained their big advantage.

The halftime whistle came to end a great first half for the visitors, who apart from the final five minutes plus stoppage time had complete control of the match and were deservedly ahead thanks to an excellent performance. But Alavés would not go away quietly at home, and the Catalans still had work to do to make sure of the points in the second half.

SECOND HALF

Barça made a slow start to the second half as they struggled mightly in possession and allowed Alavés to have a lot more joy when they had the ball. Toni Martínez hit the post after a corner, and quite a few times the hosts almost broke Barça’s offside trap to create huge chances. Alavés were the better side as we hit the hour mark, and the Blaugrana had no choice but to try and protect their lead rather than extend it.

Hansi Flick sent on Jules Kounde and Ansu Fati looking to strengthen the backline and also give the attack another outlet, and the changes had a positive impact as Barça were calmer and more accurate with the ball while Alavés lost a bit of their momentum after spending so much energy trying to chase the game.

The visitors had regained full control as we approached the final 15 minutes, and almost delivered the knockout punch three different times when Fati (twice) and Lewandowski were both denied by great saves from Sivera.

Iñaki Peña was also called up on the other end to deny Kike García one-on-one with an amazing save, and Alavés were still not quite done as we reached the final 10 minutes. Flick looked for an extra layer of control as Frenkie de Jong came on to add one more body in midfield, and Barça’s job was to keep a clean sheet to avoid a dramatic finish on the road.

They almost failed in their task when Santiago Mouriño headed home a free-kick for the hosts, but the offside trap worked again and the goal was ruled out. The hosts threw caution to the wind and did everything they could to try and get a late goal, but Barça’s defense held on and kept a clean sheet as the final whistle sounded.

The first half-hour was nearly perfect and is the big takeaway from Barça’s performance in this one, along with the exceptional work of their offside trap. It may cause a few scares, but Flick’s high line is incredibly well-drilled and has more than worked so far.

Now we pray as always that there won’t be injuries during the international window, and then two giant games against Bayern Munich and Real Madrid will be right around the corner to truly test Hansi’s seemingly unstoppable machine.

Alavés: Sivera; Tenaglia (Diarra 46’), Abqar (Pica 67’), Mouriño, Sánchez; Guevara, Blanco (Jordán 78’); Vicente, Stoichkov (Conechny 57’), Rebbach; Martínez (García 57’)

Goals: None

Barcelona: Peña; Fort (Kounde 67’), Cubarsí, Iñigo (De Jong 81’), Balde (Martín 81’); Casadó, Pedri; Yamal (Fati 67’), Raphinha, Ferran (Eric 6’); Lewandowski

Goals: Lewandowski (7’, 22’, 32’)