UD Las Palmas came to the Camp Nou in good form, following the win in the Vicente Calderón 2-3 against Atlético de Madrid, despite their cup exit, and with the clear intention of trying to compete for the ball against FC Barcelona, who have their own renowned possession playing style. With Prince once again up front, and with the absentees through injury of Pedro Bigas and Dani Castellano in defence, replaced by David García and Helder respectively, UD Las Palmas came into the match at the Camp Nou, facing a Barça team who had also made some changes.
The match started at a quick pace and the early stages were dominated by the home team. In the 2nd minute, Roque Mesa saw the first yellow card of the game, as he prevented Luis Suárez going through on Javi Varas’ goal. The resulting free kick from the edge of the area was sent into the stands by Leo Messi. It was a clear setback for Roque to be given a yellow card so early on. The first Barça goal soon followed this early pressure, as André Gomes turned the ball back for Luis Suárez, who swept the ball home from inside the box to make it 1-0.
The first chance for Las Palmas was an acrobatic attempt by Prince, while this was responded to by a similar effort by Rafinha having been set up by Messi, which nearly made it 2-0 in the 21st minute. Javi Varas avoided another goal by André Gomes in the 25th minute, following a counter attack. With half an hour gone André Gomes once again came very close, while Las Palmas were down to ten men following injury to David García, who was replaced by Aythami.
Las Palmas relieved some of the pressure of the home team with a counter attack started by Tana, that ended with a shot by Jonathan Viera that went high over the bar, this being the best chance to the away team so far that half. Once again Messi might have scored direct from a free kick, but the outstretched hand of Varas kept the ball out, then just a few moments later the visiting goalkeeper blocked a one on one again by Messi to keep the score at just 1-0, in an amazing piece of goalkeeping. Half time came with the scores at 1-0.
UD Las Palmas tried to quicken the pace in the second half, and during the first few minutes managed to unsettle the home team, although soon Barcelona began to exert great pressure against their visitors. The game seemed, however, to be a little closer than in the first half. A cross by Helder was headed wide by Prince in another half chance for the yellows.
Just as Las Palmas were getting into their stride, a pass by Rafinha was only parried by Varas and Messi stepped in quickly to tuck the ball away to make it 2-0, clearing the way for the home team, while making it an uphill struggle for UD Las Palmas, who will also be without Prince against Deportivo de La Coruña, as he was booked for a rather absurd use of the hands. Minutes later, Luis Suárez hit the base of the post and in to make the scoreline 3-0 and put the game beyond the visitors’ reach. Then rather than playing for time, Arda put his team further ahead with a fourth goal. Mateo was brought on to add some fresh legs to the yellows.
With such a large margin in the score the match reached its halfway point in the second half. The game quietened down, Prince had a weak effort saved by home goalkeeper Ter Stegen before Aleix Vidal added to the home team’s celebrations with a fifth goal, which was met with wild celebrations in the Camp Nou.
