What is the story about?
Barcelona
will finish Matchday 27 with a four-point gap at the top of La Liga thanks to a hard-fought 1-0 win away to Athletic Club at San Mamés on Saturday night. Barça were nowhere near their best with several starters missing through injury and rotations, but they did enough to secure the victory thanks to a beautiful winner by Lamine Yamal and leave Bilbao with three massive points.
Reactions & Observations
- The opening 45 minutes seriously lacked in quality from both sides, as the game was played mostly in transition with very little midfield control. Barça were especially poor on the ball, trying to play through the wings for the majority of the half with virtually zero success.
- Athletic also didn’t do a lot to create danger, but had a little more joy getting in behind Barça’s high line and could have had dangerous attacks if not for the Blaugrana’s well-timed offside trap and an excellent performance by Joan Garcia, who made countless interventions as a sweeper keeper and stopped the home team from having any real opportunities.
- Hansi Flick made a halftime change trying to spark his team as Pedri replaced Marc Bernal, and The Wizard had his usual giant impact on Barça’s ability to keep possession and start to look more dangerous up front. He also set up Lamine Yamal with a beautiful assist, and the teenager scored a gorgeous curler off the post to put the visitors ahead.
- The goal deflated Athletic who had been very energetic and intense up to that point, and Barça did an excellent job of managing the final minutes on the road and basically running out the clock without any unnecessary drama.
- This was not a vintage performance by any means, but expecting a great display with all the absences and changes to the lineup was never realistic. Barça never really suffered defensively and played well enough to secure the goal they needed, and had a very professional finish to the game. The four-point lead at the top of the table is restored, and a few key stars were able to rest for at least 45-60 minutes. Not too bad.
