Source: By PA Sport Staff
Athletic Bilbao v Barcelona – Story of the match
Lionel Messi and Paulinho hit the target as Barcelona crept past Athletic Bilbao 2-0 to maintain their four-point lead in LaLiga.Messi started and finished a move in the 36th minute to score his 12th league goal of the season, but Barca were flattered by Paulinho’s injury-time tap-in after a hard-fought evening at San Mames.Both sides struck the woodwork, Messi and Paulinho for Barca and Raul Garcia for the hosts, while Marc-Andre ter Stegen made a couple of vital saves to preserve the points.? Final whistle in San Mamés!Athletic v FC Barcelona?? Messi and Paulinho#AthleticBarça pic.twitter.com/iHtjJchdHB— FC Barcelona (@FCBarcelona) October 28, 2017Tweet of the match17 – Barcelona haven´t lost in their last 17 La Liga games (W16 D1), their longest unbeaten run since March 2017. Hammer. pic.twitter.com/BQWzl4f3MS— OptaJose (@OptaJose) October 28, 2017@OptaJose underlines the victor’s powerful form.Star man???????? Leo #Messi ????????#AthleticBarça pic.twitter.com/jaZ41ylEJM— FC Barcelona (@FCBarcelona) October 28, 2017Lionel Messi. Barca were far from dominant but, as is so often the case, their Argentinean maestro was the difference. He produced a sweet first-time finish to break Athletic’s resistance, having played a key creative role to give the move legs. He will probably wonder how he failed to finish with a brace, showing off his delicate footwork to glide through the area only to roll his shot against the post, but 21 other players on the pitch would probably not have got that far. Had he lined up in a red shirt, the points might well have followed him.Stat of the dayPost from #Messi and the bar from @paulinhop8 in San Mamés, 13 in 16 games ???? ???? Unlucky! ???? https://t.co/9wWVHlcWfA— FC Barcelona (@FCBarcelona) October 28, 2017Barca cannot stop hitting the woodwork. In their last 16 games they have been denied by the frame of the goal on no fewer than 13 occasions. Paulinho is responsible for two of those and Luis Suarez for another but the other 10 have all come from Messi, whose goal return this term would have been truly staggering but for a fraction more luck or precision.The importance of being Ernesto? A first success for Valverde as visiting coach at San Mamés ???? https://t.co/bm3WW4p6gF— FC Barcelona (@FCBarcelona) October 28, 2017Ernesto Valverde dedicated much of his career to Athletic, as player, assistant manager and twice as head coach. But for all the good times he enjoyed at San Mames, he failed to win any of his first six games as a visitor. This victory ended that streak, proving the power of being associated with Barca.Player ratings???? When you return home with the job done! pic.twitter.com/XvewnfrZug— FC Barcelona (@FCBarcelona) October 28, 2017Athletic Bilbao: Kepa 6, Boveda 6, Nunez 7, Laporte 6, Lekue 6, San Jose 5, Iturraspe 6, Williams 7, Garcia 7, Cordoba 6, Aduriz 6. Subs: Etxebarria (for San Jose) 6, Susaeta (for Williams) 5.Barcelona: Ter Stegen 8, Roberto 7, Pique 7, Umtiti 8, Alba 7, Busquets 7, Rakitic 7, Paulinho 8, Gomes 7, Suarez 7, Messi 8. Subs: Semedo (for Gomes) 6.Who’s up next?Olympiacos v Barcelona (Champions League, October 31).Athletic Bilbao v Ostersunds (Europa League, Nov 2).(function(i,s,o,g,r,a,m){i['GoogleAnalyticsObject']=r;i[r]=i[r]||function(){
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