Barcelona barely earned the Catalan a win after beating Aleves with a late Frankie de Jong goal in LaLiga on Sunday.
De Jong sweeped home from close range in the 87th minute and scored all three points in Xavi Hernandez's favor in a match that saw Barca struggle.
Barcelona, who have already crashed out of this season's Champions League and Copa del Rey, moved up to fifth in the standings with 35 points from 21 matches. They are 15 points behind leaders Real Madrid, a game in hand, and only one point behind fourth-placed Atletico Madrid.
"The win was really important because of our position in the league and the difficult season we are going through, but we still have a lot of things to work on and improve," de Jong told reporters.
It was a monotonous and flat game at the Mendizorotza Stadium, with players complaining about the frozen pitch.
Barca tried to shake things up with the introduction of 20-year-old midfielder Nico after the break, while Gerard Pique's close-range shot was shot thanks to a brilliant left-footed save from Fernando Pacheco.
Alves' Joselu passed with a powerful header, but it went past Marc-Andre ter Stegen's right post.
It was de Jong's last-gasp effort that finally put the game on Barcelona's path.
The Alves remain in 19th place with 17 points from 22 games, three points behind the safety zone.