Goals from Ivan Rakitic, Luis Suarez and Lionel Messi gave Barcelona a comfortable 3-1 victory over Granada at the Estadio Nuevo Los Carmenes in La Liga this afternoon.
The victory for Luis Enrique's men moves them to within one point of league leaders Real Madrid, who currently hold a game in hand at the top.
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In a fast opening to the game, the hosts looked to use their pace against Luis Enrique's men, with Manuel Iturra forcing a good interception from Javier Mascherano on the counter.
The game's first real chance did not come until the 24th minute as Luis Suarez teed up Xavi on the edge of the box, only for Granada keeper Oier Olazabal to tip the midfielder's shot over the bar.
Despite a tepid start to the match, Barca took the lead after 25th minutes after some poor defending from Juan Cala presented Rakitic with a chance that he could not pass up.
The Catalan giants were almost two in front in the 37th minute when Rakitic found Lionel Messi, but the Argentine fired over the bar despite a sublime first touch to manufacture space for his shot.
The home fans were furious just a few minutes later as they thought that their side were denied a clear penalty, with Lass Bangoura going down under the pressure of Marc Bartra's challenge.
Barcelona moved further ahead three minutes into the second half courtesy of Suarez, who combined with Rakitic to tuck home into the bottom corner and make it 2-0.
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The home side were presented with a potential route back into the contest when Bartra pulled down Lass inside the box, leaving Fran Rico to covert the spot kick and reduce the deficit.
The away side battled back to restore their advantage, however, with Messi grabbing their third with an easy finish from close range following some standout work from Suarez.
Messi should have earned himself a brace with just a few minutes left to play, only for the frontman to strike tamely at Oier despite the one-on-one situation in front of him.
Christopher Dodd
