Athletic Bilbao 0-1 FC Barcelona: Ivan Rakitic Header Enough to Separate Sides
Barcelona ran out eventual 1-0 winners in a tightly contested match on Sunday evening at the San Mames thanks to Ivan Rakitic. Perhaps Bilbao were lucky to have kept the score at just the one, much to the frustration of Barcelona, but their hard work ethic and team pressing deserve everyplaudit.
It should be known that Barcelona never have an easy game when they visit San Mames in Bilbao, which significantly ignited a bright start by the Blaugrana in an attempt to hush their opponents early doors. After only five minutes of play Luis Suarezhad the ball in theback of the net, only to be ruled out by the offside flag by the smallest of margins.
The high pressure tactics by Bilbao disallowed Barcelona's habitual possession football and did cause moments of madness in the Barcelona defence.Ter Stegen, currently thenumber one goalkeeper at the club, was called into action as he gifted Benat the ball with a terrible pass, but managed to block the following effort - albeit with his chin.
Barcelona soon proved to be the wiser, countering Bilbao's high press and exploiting the gaps behind the adventurous full-backs, from where Ivan Rakitic opened the scoring. A series of slick passes strung delightfully together saw Rakitic in all kinds of space on the far side. Luis Suarez whipped up an inch perfect cross to the back post where the Croatian made it 1-0 with a guidedheader, giving the keeper Iraizoz no chance.
#Rakitic doing what any good midfielder does and times late run to perfection. 1-0 #FCBarca #AthleticFCB https://t.co/zKYGBgcJ9w
As the halfmatured, Barcelona were able to return to their accustomed possession system, which restricted Bilbao from any clear cut chances until the mid-way point.
A rather cagey opening to the second half saw limited chances for both sides, with the slippery surface causing some problems for the Bilbao players. Luis Suarez almost broke this trend however, with yet another Lionel Messi infused attack, feeding the Uruguayan for not the first time tonight. The striker's effort however, cutting inside from the left on to his preferred foot, whistled wide as he failed to wrap his foot around it enough to see it find the target.
The cautious beginning to the second halfprompted a series of changes by the Bilbao side, which looked to reignite the pressing game from the home side, particularly Inaki Williams. The contest continued to heat up over the course of the second half, a contest that Luis Suarez nearly put to bed ten minutes from time, but yet again failed to trouble the goalkeeper.
The longer the score remained 1-0, the more belief that was struck into both the Bilbao players and supporters. The last chance came in the dying embers of the match, with Luis Suarez failing to convert yet again, a last ditch block on the line faltering the Uruguayan hitman's goal streakin La Liga.
It wasn't to make a difference however, full time came, and Barcelona had taken the three points. Credit to Bilbao, who made the Spanish champions work extremely hard for it.