Barcelona coach Ernesto Valverde admits Lionel Messi was the difference for their 4-1 defeat of Alaves.

Valverde hailed Messi's ability to appear and deliver when Barcelona need him most.

The Argentine scored Barcelona's third goal against Alaves to seal the victory and help the Blaugrana grab all three points, which ensures that they will end 2019 as league leaders.

"Having [Messi] is a huge advantage," Valverde said after the game.

"Leo appears at any moment and scores a goal from anywhere."

Barcelona ended 2019 with a win and the former Athletic Club coach broke down the match against the Basque side.

"The first half was great on our part, [but in] the beginning of the second [we didn't have much] momentum and that's where the [Alaves] goal came," Valverde continued.

"We finally took a breath with the third goal.

"We've also come from a very intense match on Wednesday and when you make it 2-0, it seems to be an important gap, but I don't think so.

"I blame it on the merit of the opponents.

"In this game we were especially interested in not having any fright, [as we were] aware that Alaves could hurt us.

"We are leaving with a good feeling, because we know [the league] is long.

"We are on a good way for when the games where you play for things arrive."