Athletic Bilbao 2-3 Barcelona
Barcelona are back in the top three in La Liga after coming from behind to beat Athletic Bilbao, 3-2, at San Mames.
Pedri equalised after Inaki Williams gave Bilbao an early lead, while Lionel Messi struck twice to seal Barca’s victory.
The Catalans are still some way’s away from catching up to the top two in Madrid, but Messi and co.’s performance suggests that their La Liga 2021 odds to reclaim the title cannot be discounted.
Highlights of the game
Athletic Bilbao made major La Liga 2021 news when they fired manager Gaizka Garitano shortly after their win over Elche and brought in Marcelino.
The former Valencia boss made quite a bold decision by starting both Raul Garcia and Inaki Williams up front, and that move paid off as the two combined to put the home side ahead after just three minutes.
Garcia provided a brilliant pass to Williams, who sprinted past the Barca backline, then kept his composure to slot the ball past Marc-Andre ter Stegen.
Athletic were on the attack yet again just minutes later as left-back Yuri Berchiche fired into the side netting.
Barca then came right back and got their first big chance. Lionel cut the ball back to Antoine Griezmann, who teed up Sergino Dest for a shot. But Bilbao keeper Unai Simon was able to parry it away.
Ousmane Dembele was the next to test Simon on 13 minutes with a long-range shot that the Bilbao keeper pushed away for a corner.
However, Simon was unable to deal with Barcelona’s equaliser just moments later. Frenkie de Jong did well to get on the end of a Messi long ball that got Simon out of position. The Dutchman then delivered a good cross into the box, which Pedri headed into an unguarded goal.
Barca continued their assault on the Bilbao goal as Simon had to make more saves on shots from Jordi Alba and Dembele.
But again, Simon’s questionable positioning led to another Barcelona goal. As Pedri and Messi combined at the edge of the box, Simon was caught way off his line, which allowed Messi to simply pass the ball into a gaping net.
But Simon did well to deny Barcelona a third just before half-time as he parried away Antoine Griezmann’s shot headed for the top corner. Messi also came close with a shot that just trickled wide.
The second half saw Bilbao start brightly once again and had a great opportunity to get back on level terms. Raul Garcia got on the end of a good cross from Capa, but he was unable to direct his shot on target.
But Barca would weather that surge by the home side and effectively sealed the win just over the hour mark.
After some patient build-up play, Messi ghosted into the edge of the six-yard box and unleashed a powerful strike that clipped the underside of the post and into the net.
Messi came close to claiming another hat-trick on 72 minutes as he struck the post. But surprisingly, Messi would be responsible for making the final few minutes much nervier for Barcelona.
His careless pass well inside his own half in the 90th minute was intercepted by Athletic, and Iker Muniain punished that error with a beautiful first-time finish past ter Stegen. However, Messi’s mistake didn’t end up ultimately costing Barcelona as they held on to take all three points.
Key statistics
Barcelona’s impressive record against Athletic just got even better. They have now won 20 of their last 28 meetings, with Bilbao winning just two.
In our preview of this clasico, SBOTOP expected a lower scoring affair similar to past years. But after Garitano’s sacking, Marcelino decided to play a more open style that Bilbao have been used to in recent years, which led to more goals.
Meanwhile, Messi just continues to carry the Barca attack and make La Liga 2021 highlights. He now has nine goals on the season, which is tied with three others for the league lead. And he now has five goals and two assists in his last six games.
What’s next?
Barcelona will look to extend their current unbeaten run in La Liga to eight matches when they travel away to Granada on the weekend. Then they have a Spanish Super Cup semi-final clash away to Real Sociedad next week.
Meanwhile, things won’t get much easier for Marcelino and Athletic. They will travel to leaders Atletico Madrid over the weekend. Then, they will face Madrid’s other club, Real, in the Spanish Super Cup.
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