Almería vs Barcelona, La Liga: Final Score 0-2, Fermín López ...

Barcelona have taken a big step towards finishing as this season’s La Liga runners-up thanks to a 2-0 win away to Almería at the Power Horse Stadium on Thursday night. The already relegated hosts gave it a go and provided a tough test, but a much-changed Barça side found a way to get all three points thanks to a strong second half performance a double by Fermín López, and the Blaugrana can now clinch second place with a game to spare if they beat Rayo Vallecano at home on Sunday.

FIRST HALF

Almería are an attacking side that have nothing to lose at this point of the season, so the hosts played on the front foot from the get-go, defending with a high line, pressing Barça near their own goal and using every opportunity they had on the ball to move it quickly from back to front and try to create problems.

They had a couple of dangerous attacking trips early on but couldn’t create a real chance, and found themselves behind after 15 minutes thanks to a wonderful cross by Héctor Fort and a good header by Fermín López. Those two youngsters were the highlights of Barça’s first half performance, as the Blaugrana did a good job keeping and passing the ball and always looked their most dangerous when Fort and Fermín were involved in the action.

After conceding the opener Almería went forward even more, and Léo Baptistão missed a huge chance to score a wonderful solo goal while Anthony Lozano forced a good save from Marc-André ter Stegen. The game was as open as expected in the first 25 minutes, and the second goal in the match felt like a matter of when, not if.

And for a good while it seemed that second goal would be scored by an Almería side that continued to play well and find spaces inside the Barça defense and created some dangerous moments, but poor finishing and decision-making in the final third stopped the hosts from truly troubling Ter Stegen.

Barça struggled to have any control of the game and wasted several promising counter-attacks with bad passes in midfield, and instead of trying to score a second they were simply focused on protecting their lead going into the break.

They almost failed to accomplish that task when Adri Embarba struck the post just before the interval, but the Catalans managed to dodge that bullet and still be ahead when the halftime whistle came. After a good start Barça lost all momentum and saw Almería finish the half as the stronger team, and Xavi Hernández’s side needed a lot of improvement to secure the victory in the final period.

SECOND HALF

Barça’s issues from the first half persisted in the final period: the Blaugrana could not string a sequence of passes together, wasting the ball time and time again in midfield and allowing Almería to counter-attack in numbers against a vulnerable Blaugrana defense.

Lozano should have equalized just two minutes in when the ball fell to him all alone in front of Ter Stegen, but the striker somehow missed the target completely. That was yet another reminder that Barça needed to concentrate and pass the ball better, or the game would get away from them in a hurry.

The Blaugrana finally began making positive strides in the passing accuracy department and took more control of the action, forcing Almería to defend deeper and not allowing the hosts much joy on the counter. The next step was creating good chances to find the second goal, but Barça looked in better shape at the hour mark.

And with 25 minutes to go came the all-important second goal: a good passing sequence down the left wing ended with a great run and assist by Sergi Roberto and a brilliant left-footed finish by Fermín, who doubled his tally and Barça’s lead to pretty much secure the victory.

Almería were visibly affected by the second goal and lost all momentum, and Barça mostly cruised to the finish by controlling possession and looking to keep their clean sheet intact while still trying to add a third goal at the death. Xavi used all five substitutions to freshen up the team and solidify the midfield, and the final minutes were pretty comfortable for the visitors.

The final whistle came to end a comfortable night for Barça, who were made to work in the first half but showed their superiority in the second half once they found a groove with their passing. The rotations worked and several reserves and youngsters got a chance, and the team performance was solid with a couple of really good individual games by the likes of Fermín López and Héctor Fort.

Barça can now clinch second place with a game to spare with a win in their home finale, and end a depressing season in somewhat positive fashion.

Almería: Maximiano; Pubill (Pozo 80’), Montes, Brandariz, Langa; Peña, Robertone; Baptistão (Romero 59’), Viera (Melero 69’), Embarba (Centelles 80’); Lozano (Suárez 59’)

Goals: None

Barcelona: Ter Stegen; Kounde, Cubarsí, Iñigo, Fort (Cancelo 73’); Fermín, Roberto (Christensen 69’), Pedri (Romeu 83’); Yamal, Lewandowski (Félix 69’), Ferran (Roque 73’)

Goals: Fermín (14’, 67’)