Barcelona emerge victorious against Athletic Bilbao and moves to 2nd in La Liga

Barcelona emerge victorious against Athletic Bilbao and moves to 2nd in La Liga
Griezmann scored the winner

Barcelona won 2-1 against Athletic Bilbao and continued their 9 match unbeaten streak in La Liga. A free kick goal from Lionel Messi and a tap-in from Griezmann ensured all 3 points for the Blaugranas.

Barcelona avenged their loss against Athletic Bilbao in the Supercopa finals and moved up to 2nd position in the league above Real Madrid. However, Barcelona remained 10 points behind league leaders Atletico who also have a game in hand.

Messi scored his 650th goal for Barcelona

Lionel Messi after scoring his 650th goal via a free kick

Lionel Messi scored his 650th goal for his boyhood club with a stunning free kick 20 minutes into the break. His free kick goal came on the same day when his recent Barcelona contract details were released by Spanish newspaper El Mundo.

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Barça continued to press and attack after the goal. Although they didn’t have a clear opportunity for a second they always looked a threat. At halftime, Barcelona had a narrow lead but were clearly the better team.

The second half started badly for Barcelona as Jordi Alba scored an own goal trying to clear a cross from the side. Marcelino’s side looked more capable in the 2nd half as they pressed Barcelona higher up the pitch. The 2 teams were well matched in the 2nd half as both tried to go for the winner.

Barcelona’s resilience finally paid off in the 74th minute. Griezmann finished a wonderful team move scoring into an open net from Oscar Mingueza’s cross. Bilbao desperately searched for a late equalizer but couldn’t come up with any real danger.

Koeman demanded more respect for Messi

Koeman and Messi

The Barcelona manager, Koeman was furious in his post-match conference when asked about Messi’s contract leak and made his dissatisfaction clear. He urged the club to sack whoever had leaked the details.

“Whoever has leaked Messi’s contract cannot have a future at Barca,” Koeman said after the encounter. “What has come out in the press about Messi was done maliciously.

“We have to try to know how this could have come out in the press. We have to concentrate on our season. The team’s been fine lately. We won a lot of games. We don’t have to focus on this issue, but there are people who want to hurt Barca and Leo.

“Messi has been demonstrating his quality as a footballer for years, has helped a lot to make this club great and has helped a lot to win titles.”

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