Goals from Luis Suarez and Jordi Alba were enough for Barcelona to see off 10-man Eibar and equal a club-record 31-match unbeaten run in La Liga. After a full-strength side downed Eibar, Craig Burley assesses Barcelona's performance and how it sets them up for their crunch UCL clash with Chelsea. Barcelona head coach, Ernesto Valverde believes his side's victory against Eibar was a good test in the build-up to their Champions League game with Chelsea.
Luis Suarez's early goal helped La Liga leaders Barcelona return to winning ways ahead of their Champions League clash against Chelsea with a 2-0 victory over Eibar.
Barca had been held to draws by Espanyol and Getafe in their previous two league matches and were up against an Eibar side which thrashed high-flying Sevilla 5-1 in their last home outing.
However, Ernesto Valverde's men avoided a similar fate at Ipurua with Suarez putting them ahead in the 16th minute.
Eibar were reduced to 10 men in the 66th minute when Fabian Orellana was given his marching orders and Barca - who go to Stamford Bridge for the first leg of their last-16 tie on Tuesday -- sealed the win through Jordi Alba late on.
In Saturday's late match, Valencia hit two late goals to come from behind and win 2-1 at bottom club Malaga.
Nigeria forward Brown Ideye had given the hosts a shock lead when he slotted in from a corner on 27 minutes.
That looked to have been enough for Malaga's first LaLiga win since December 10 before a late rally earned Los Che all three points.
Midfielder Francis Coquelin scored his first Valencia goal since moving from Arsenal to equalise with 10 minutes left, heading in a corner at the near post.
On 84 minutes, Ignasi Miquel -- another former Gunner -- was shown a straight red card for hauling down Rodrigo as he burst into the penalty area.
Daniel Parejo stepped up to smash the resulting spot-kick into the bottom-left corner.
Valencia's late show saw them move four points clear of Real Madrid, who have played two matches fewer.
Earlier on Saturday, Pablo Sarabia was on the scoresheet again as Sevilla downed struggling Las Palmas 2-1.
Sarabia struck for the fourth time in Sevilla's last five league games to double his side's lead in the Canary Islands after Wissam Ben Yedder had put them ahead.
Jonathan Calleri pulled a goal back from the penalty spot eight minutes from time but it was not enough to prevent third-bottom Las Palmas from slumping to a 16th defeat of the campaign.
Malaga, meanwhile, remained adrift at the foot of the table - seven points behind Levante, who have a game in hand.
Alaves earlier put further distance between themselves and the relegation battle with a 1-0 home win over strugglers Deportivo La Coruna.
John Guidetti saw an early effort come back off a post, before at the other end Deportivo winger Zakaria Bakkali also struck the woodwork.
The decisive moment of the match came in the 61st minute when on loan Barcelona forward Munir picked the ball up just outside the penalty arc and clipped a fine left-footed shot over the keeper into the top-right corner.
Following a third straight La Liga win, Alaves are 14th, now 10 points clear of the relegation zone, while Deportivo remain second from bottom.
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Source: espn.co.uk