Barcelona vs. Athletic Club – Spanish La Liga Review (Part 3)
The Catalan Giants moved forward to find the back of the net as Gerard Pique and Eric Abidal were the only two players playing behind the half line. Josep Guardiola threw bodies forward as Bilbao had all ten outfield players behind the ball. Andres
Iniesta made a wonderful run towards the goal after getting past three Bilbao defenders but the goalkeeper Gorka Iraizoz made himself big and denied Barcelona the opportunity.
After a few minutes, it was Xavi Hernandez who delivered an inch perfect ball towards David Villa who timed his run perfectly. The Spanish goal scoring machine tried to chip the ball over Iraizoz but only managed but the Bilbao goalkeeper tipped the
ball enough to hit the cross bar. It was for the third time in a row that Villa was denied by the woodwork in the last three games that he had played for the Catalans.
Lionel Messi got the ball at his feet right outside the 18 yard box and had seven men in front of him. The Argentinean decided to go at all of them himself and made a perfect run towards the goal. The Barcelona number 10 got past all seven of the Bilbao
players and was taken down by the centre back but was denied a deserving penalty. It was simply a marvellous run by the Argentinean striker and the Catalan players were simply furious after they were denied the chance to win the game from the spot kick.
The Argentinean simply did not give up and continued to impress later during the game. It took him only two more minutes to find the back of the net to give Barcelona a 2-1 victory over Bilbao. The move started from the defence as a cleared ball found
Eric Abidal’s header and was passed on towards Xavi Hernandez. Xavi delivered a perfect pass towards Daniel Alves who was being a constant threat on the right wing. The Brazilian full back made a run inside the 18 yard box and found Lionel Messi right in front
of the goal. Despite having an “off-night,” Lionel Messi tapped the ball in with his weaker right foot to help Barcelona take all three points from a difficult fixture.
Even though Barcelona were leading after the 78th minute, they did not give up and kept on trying to find the back of the net. Lionel Messi finally found his feet along with Andres Iniesta who was extraordinary throughout the
game. The Argentinean maestro made two wonderful runs inside the 18 yard box but couldn’t find the back of the net even though he could score from that close any other day.
Barcelona were not at their best while performing against Athletic Club. They were simply being caught at the back as Gerard Pique couldn’t really get the best of Fernando Llorente; in fact it was to the contrary. The Catalans definitely need to find
back their form even though they got all three points from Athletic Club.