Barcelona extended their unbeaten run in La Liga by achieving a hard-fought 2-0 away victory at the San Mames stadium against Athletic Bilbao.
Ernesto Valverde opted for a midfield including Andre Gomes, Rakitic and Paulinho. While common sense would indicate that such combination ahead of Busquets was destined for disaster given their obvious lack of the so-called Barca DNA, the truth is that the physicality and stamina they brought collectively was enough to contain Athletic’s best efforts. Sure, Barca did struggle to have their traditional possession-based control as a result but, ultimately, it is hard to argue against the manager’s selection after securing yet another three points on the road.
Lionel Messi, as usual, took matters into his own hands to give Barcelona the advantage before the half-time break after a trademark byline run by Jordi Alba. The Blaugranas’ goal spurred Los Leones to push forward even more decisively but, fortunately for Cules, the visitors pulled together and managed to contain their continuous attacks, particularly in the late stages. In fact, the game was not fully decided until Paulinho scored Barca’s second right before the final whistle.
Francesc live-tweeted the game at @TheBarcelonaPod:
As expected given the starting XI, Barca lacking creativity in final attacking third. Athletic pushing a fair bit too! #fcblive— TheBarcelonaPodcast (@TheBarcelonaPod) October 28, 2017
GOOOOL MESSIIII!!!! Fantastic assist from Jordi Alba, Messi finds enough space to strike his 12th La Liga goal this season. 0-1 Min 36— TheBarcelonaPodcast (@TheBarcelonaPod) October 28, 2017
Barca improved gradually as the half went on. Football not pretty, but solid enough to get wins thanks to Messi’s brilliance. #FCBlive— TheBarcelonaPodcast (@TheBarcelonaPod) October 28, 2017
70 goals
67 gamesCrack???????????? #D10S pic.twitter.com/YzrCiP6ZnI
— Sarah (@AllAboutFutbol2) October 28, 2017
Roberto looking the freshest Barca player at this point. Bring Semedo in, move Sergi to midfield. #FCBlive #AthleticBarcelona— TheBarcelonaPodcast (@TheBarcelonaPod) October 28, 2017
PAULINHOOOOOOOL!!! Messi with the coolest run of the game, assists Suarez, who sees his shot saved, falls to Pau who taps it in #FCBlive— TheBarcelonaPodcast (@TheBarcelonaPod) October 28, 2017
Barcelona haven´t lost in their last 17 La Liga games (W16 D1), their longest unbeaten run since March 2017 #fcblive [opta]— Barcastuff (@barcastuff__) October 28, 2017
Player Ratings:
Ter Stegen – 9
Sergi Roberto – 7
Pique – 5
Umtiti – 8
Busquets – 7
Rakitic – 6
Paulinho – 8
Messi – 9
Subs:
Semedo – 6
Now it’s your turn: Who was YOUR Man of the Match?
— TheBarcelonaPodcast (@TheBarcelonaPod) October 28, 2017
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The Barcelona Podcast is brought to you by Francesc Tomas (as seen in ESPN, The Guardian) and Dan Hilton (Barcablog). Listen in for the hottest breaking stories from the Camp Nou!
