Good evening and welcome to Eurosport's LIVE coverage of the Spanish Liga fixture between Barcelona and Athletic Club. We'll bring you all the action as it happens at the Camp Nou. Kick off is at 20:00 GMT.

Alba with the cross! The space opened up for Messi, he sprayed the pass out to Alba in space, the first-time cross was played back in, but the header spins into the air and Simon claims.

Messi is playing out on the right side in this system, although he has the freedom to drift inside. Mingueza is doing a decent job of providing some width down the right wing.

This has been a very impressive display from Barcelona so far. They are in complete control. They have been dominant from the very first minute. Athletic Club can't get near them.

There are political questions to be asked following the leaking of Messi’s contract details to El Mundo. Does someone at Barcelona want him gone? Are they trying to pain him as the bad guy?

Of course, Messi’s future is still up in the air. He is out of contract at the end of the season and is free to speak to other clubs. There is a growing sense that the Argentine will leave Barcelona.

Barcelona deserve to be ahead. They have been the better team, they have dominated possession and have created the only goalscoring opportunities. Athletic Club second best.

You just knew that Messi would find the back of the net this evening. There has been a lot of talk about him today and over the terms of his contract, but that's why they pay him the big bucks!

GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAL! Barcelona 1 (20 mins - Lionel Messi) Athletic Club 0. What a goal and it just had to be Messi given the recent chat around his contract! The Barcelona number 10 finds the top corner of the net from a freekick just over 20 yards out! Yeray was back on the line, but he couldn't keep it out!

Dembele has started well. There is a lot of space in the wide areas for Barcelona here. The Frenchman is string together his longest run of games as a Barcelona player.

PICTURE: Barcelona on top right now

Messi over! A cross from Dembele is blocked, Pjanic's shot finds the chest of Messi, but the Barcelona number 10 could only direct his effort over the crossbar! Reflext attempt!

Griezmann is being afforded a lot of space down the left side. That's where the majority of Barcelona's attacking moves are coming from in the opening 15 minutes of this match.

Barcelona have made a good start to this match. This time Griezmann has a shot flash over the crossbar. Simon probably had it covered, but the hosts are on top at the moment.

Much has been made of the financial issues Barcelona are currently experiencing with the Camp Nou club laden with over €1 billion. So how much has Messi’s extraordinary contract contributed to this?

This match is played against a backdrop of dramatic reports in the Catalan press this morning which claimed Messi will earn a staggering €555m from his current contract by this summer. He only signed it in 2017!