77' Huesca look poised to make a few more changes as they attempt to steal something in the final quarter-hour of this game.
75' Now the visitors do have a pair of opportunities, Mir brushing a header wide to the left and Ferreiro crashing an off-target strike in at the right. It's just not breaking their way right now.
73' There's more purchase on the wings for Huesca right now but since that last near-miss for Mir, they haven't quite got their eye in again. Time is running out for them to salvage something.
71' Messi! Even by his standards, that would have been a skilled finish, after he draws Fernandez out to the left edge of the 18-yard area and beats him, before attempting to lop a tight finish back across and only finding the roof of the net.
67' There's brief cause for concern for Barca here after Messi is felled by Siovas and stays down on his haunches again. The Argentine is ultimately good to continue but that was a nervy moment for Ronald Koeman there.
65' Seoane wins a corner off a deflected cut-back effort but there's little sticking from it for Huesca, with an Insua header speared wide.
62' What's left in the tank for Huesca as this game enters the final half-hour? They're still looking more willy than Barca would hope when they get on the counter-attack. There could yet be an unlikely twist in this game.
59' There's bibs being stripped on the sidelines; Huesca look like they are about to make the first changes of the game.
57' Mir! Oh, that would have been sublime! A smart Huesca counter down the right wing catches Barca out and a long, looping delivery to Escriche is headed back in for the striker, unmarked inside the six-yard area - and he just can't bring the ball back down to earth. So close.
55' Pacheta has been pacing around his box, arms going like a windmill, as he barks out instructions to his side. Huesca have pulled a goal back once before but it's surely a tall order now.
53' Both sides already have players warming up on the sidelines but there have been no new faces at the break. For the Blaugrana, it is simply more of the same. For the visitors, it is time to hurl the kitchen sink. Dembele wins a corner.
51' This time, Messi's set-piece hits the wall and Huesca tear away on a counter attack. Barca mass numbers back quickly enough and any linger threat is tamped down in short order.
50' The delivery is pretty tepid by the Argentine's standards and the visitors are able to clear their lines without too much difficulty, before the former is felled in shooting range just outside the box by Mir.
46' We are back underway for the second half at Camp Nou. Will Barcelona run away to a rout here? Or can Huesca pull off a major comeback and snatch a crucial result?
Messi and his fellow Blaugrana players were not happy with that call, but Ronald Koeman was absolutely furious. The manager seemed to have to be held back from attempting to confront the referee as the teams trudged off there. What a bizarre shift of the scales we've just seen.
It's Barcelona who are in the driving seat in La Liga after two superb finishes from Lionel Messi and Antoine Griezmann - but a Hail Mary penalty for Huesca means this game still, remarkably, hangs in the balance at Camp Nou. At half-time, it is Barcelona 2-1 Huesca.
45' + 5' HALF-TIME: BARCELONA 2-1 HUESCA
45' + 3' VAR is having a look to confirm that there is no offside - and there is not. Mir is fine and the foul is adjudged to be worthy of a spot-kick. The number nine will take...
45' + 1' Oh my word, it is a penalty - to Huesca! The visitors clear the Barcelona corner and counter with a desperate last roll of the dice. Mir comes crashing through the middle, with just Ter Stegen to beat as the ball is drifted deep from the right wing into the box - and he misses it before clattering into the goalkeeper. The referee says it's a foul and points straight to the spot! This is a bonker passage of play!
45' Huesca are surely just gagging for the interval but they're going to have see off a corner here. There's not going to be any added minutes by the looks of things.
42' Cripes alive, the woodwork has saved Huesca's blushes again! This time it is a speculative ball tossed in from the left wing. Pulido overstretches going for it and De Jong almost has a tap-in - except his touch arcs over Fernandez and back off the crossbar, where the visitors lash it away. Mad stuff.
41' I'm not saying we're headed to these heights, but Barca have scored eight goals in two different matches against Huesca in the last decade: 8-1 in the Copa del Rey in December 2014 and 8-2 in the league in September 2018.
39' A pair of consecutive corners now for Barca, which ultimately come to nothing but does allow them to tighten the screw a little bit more on their opponents, who have shifted to a fixed if bunched back-five.
37' That top-left corner of the Huesca net has taken a pounding so far, hasn't it? It's like it's gone a dozen rounds with Lennox Lewis in his prime. If that Alba strike had gone in, Huesca really would be out of this one. They're barely in it now as it is.
33' That is very nearly the second for the Blaugrana too! Jordi Alba cuts in on the left edge of the box and smashes a finish over Fernandez, only to be denied by the crossbar, the ball rattling back into open play. That was close.
32' Barcelona haven't delivered many performances this season where you get the niggling sense that they are toying with their opponent. But this has shades of that about it; they could have probably mustered a second by now.
30' Griezmann's first effort is repelled for a repeat set-piece and Barcelona then see a subsequent looping cross sail away for a goal-kick on the far side after playing it initially short.
28' Barca win themselves their second corner of the game out on the left edge and Blaugrana shirts pile into the box. A second goal here this early may well kill off any hopes of a result for Huesca.
26' Maffeo! That's a lovely move from Huesca, who hammer a long ball to cut out the Barca midfield and then cut back around two defenders to dink into the box from the right. The finish requires Ter Stegen to get low and palm it away from the left post.
24' Messi appears to have shaken off whatever little niggle he was sporting around his ankle earlier, which will be of some relief to Ronald Koeman. Barca feel in cruise control here.
22' Barcelona ably see off the set-piece and Huesca immediately back-pedal to prevent any breakaway from the hosts. Messi appears to be fiddling with his right ankle, adjusting his sock with a slight grimace. He'll hope he's not got a knock.
20' Mir twists a delivery now into the Barcelona box following a well-worked counter and wins a corner after a poor touch from Mingueza who attempts to reel it in.
18' Barcelona have only lost one of their last 13 league games at Camp Nou against newly-promoted rivals with the exception in this run being a 1-2 defeat in July 2020 against Osasuna.
16' Messi comes close to doubling his tally inside the first quarter of this game now, cutting back in upon himself after he's slipped into the box. The finish is over the crossbar as he faces the pressure of two defenders.
15' It's remarkable to think of the number of great strikers who would be delighted with a finish of that quality a few times per season. Messi just seems to throw them around like confetti; almost effortlessly pretty.
12' A wicked deflection sends the ball arcing off from the Barcelona danger zone as Dembele and Griezmann looked to combine around the visitors' 18-yard area. The hosts are pressing hard.
10' Dest! Fernandez does well to get across and parry away the midfielder's fast strike, launched in from the right with the velocity of a rocket-ship. Huesca muscle the subsequent corner away too.
9' Pacheta hasn't seen his side have a real sniff since that strike though. He'll be aware that it is a tall order to take a win at Camp Nou but a win would be an essential shot in the arm for their survival hopes.
7' Jordi Alba is looking a lively presence for the hosts as they slip in on the opposite side of the Huesca penalty area now. A lob cross skims away for a goal-kick but Barca are pretty comfortable so far.
5' Barcelona encroach into the final third for the first time but Huesca's defence led by Siovas does a good job to dig themselves out of any serious potential danger.
4' Ronald Koeman already looks deep in thought. That was an early test of his side's defensive frailties and a better finish could have seen them unlocked early on here.
2' Close to the golden start for the visitors! Mir cuts a path down the right wing, nips back around two Barcelona defenders and drills a low finish to Ter Stegen, who almost dangerously spills.
1' We are underway in La Liga between Barcelona and Huesca!
The teams are poised to emerge at Camp Nou and we are moments away from kick-off.
Rafa Mir though will be the danger man for their opponents today; he has scored seven goals in La Liga this season, becoming Huesca's second all-time top-scorer in the top-flight.
Barcelona have gone 16 games without losing in La Liga heading into today; that's the best current unbeaten streak of any team in the five major leagues in Europe.
Subs: Pedro Mosquera. Javier Ontiveros, Jaime Seoane, Sandro Ramirez, Sergio Gomez, Juan Carlos Real, Denis Vavro, Andres Fernandez, Pedro Lopez, Borja Garcia, Shinji Okazaki.
HUESCA (3-4-3): Alvaro Fernandez; Jorge Pulido, Dimitrios Siovas, Pablo Insua; Pablo Maffeo, Idrissa Doumbia, Mikel Rico, Javi Galan; David Ferreiro, Dani Escriche, Rafa Mir.
Subs: Samuel Umtiti, Martin Braithwaite, Ronald Araujo, Arnau Tenas, Trincao, Matheus Fernandes, Miralem Pjanic, Ilaix Moriba, Neto, Junior Firpo.
BARCELONA (3-4-3): Marc-Andre ter Stegen; Oscar Mingueza, Frenkie de Jong, Clement Lenglet; Sergino Dest, Sergio Busquets; Pedri, Jordi Alba; Lionel Messi, Antoine Griezmann, Ousmane Dembele.
Barca then keep faith with the same XI that drew last time out against Paris Saint-Germain in Europe almost a week ago. Huesca make just one change from their last game, with Jaime Seoane replaced by Idrissa Doumbia in midfield.
On paper, they'll hope to nab three points against a side who look increasingly nailed on for the drop - but they will still be wary of Pacheta's side. The visitors were only downed by a Frenkie de Jong goal in the reverse clash in January, and have taken four points in their last three games.
Couple that with the recent collapse of Atletico Madrid - who have notched only three wins since the start of February when they were apparently romping to the crown - and this game is a perfect chance to keep the gap small for the hosts as they pursue surprise success.
But despite that, and a Supercopa de Espana defeat to Athletic Bilbao, Ronald Koeman and Lionel Messi have helped reignite an unlikely charge for the summit, aided in no small part by an unbeaten top-flight run since mid-December.
It doesn't seem too long ago that the Blaugrana were flailing in pursuit of silverware - and indeed, last week's Champions League exit served a reminder that they are far from better days in the eyes of their expectant faithful.
Hello and welcome to live coverage of La Liga's 2020-21 season, as Barcelona aim to keep their remarkable title challenge firing on all cylinders against rock-bottom Huesca at Camp Nou.
