From the moment of the opening whistle, it seemed Barcelona had shaken off the rust from last weekend's defeat against Malaga. With goals from Ivan Rakitic (25'), Luis Suarez (48'), and Lionel Messi (70'), the Catalans cruised to a 3-1 victory over the hosts at the Estadio Nuevo Los Carmenes
Barcelona started the match doing more defending than many had expected. But by the 25th minute, Barcelona had found their ability to break down Granada and a Luis Suarez shot on target forced Cala into a save. However, Cala's rebound fell to Ivan Rakitic who opened the scoring for the visitors.Barcelona continued to attack, and had plenty of space and freedom to play as they chose. But toward the end of the first half, it was Granada who had the better chances.
Three minutes after Santiago Jaime Latre blew the whistle to start the second half, Luis Suarez doubled the Blaugrana's advantage. The Croatian international, Ivan Rakitic provided a wonderful ball for the South American as Suarez finished off the move spectacularly.
Four minutes later, the hosts would get their first chance as Marc Bartra takes down Lass Bangoura in the area to concede the penalty. Fran Rico converted to bring the hosts within one. Eighteen minutes later, Lionel Messi sealed the points for the hosts, finishing off a play started by the Uruguayan international and played through Rakitic. Barcelona continued to attack even after they got their third goal and Messi had an opportunity to score his second of the match but Oier did well to keep the ball out.
However, not all was good with the Blaugrana side--as Neymar and Jeremy Mathieu will both be suspended for Barcelona's La Liga match against Rayo Vallecano on Sunday, 8 March. As for Granada, they will continue their attempt to climb out of the relegation zone on 7 March when they host Malaga.