Opinion: Athletic Bilbao 1-0 Barcelona - 5 players who were responsible for the Catalans' defeat
In what was a less than ideal start to their LaLiga title defense, Barcelona fell to a 1-0 defeat at the San Mames to Athletic Bilbao.
The home side had maximum support, with their stadium full to the rafters, and a spectacular acrobatic finish by Aritz Aduriz with his first touch in the dying embers of the game was enough to settle matters and hand all three points to the Basque club.
Barcelona were lacking the services of talisman Lionel Messi who is battling with a calf injury, while they also lost the services of Luis Suarez in the first half, and were truly atrocious for the entirety of the 90 minutes, with their defeat a just result considering how poorly they played.
Having spent over €200m during the transfer window to augment what was an already strong squad, Barcelona had a multiple of proven performers on display against Athletic Bilbao but in jarring scenes, most of them failed to pull their weight.
There were only a handful of Blaugrana players who showed signs of their ability, while the rest massively underperformed.
While most of the players had a subpar game and qualify to be on the list, but this article shall be limiting it to the top 5.
#5 Carlos Alena
Carles Alena was handed a rare start for Barcelona, when he was thrust on from the onset against Athletic Bilbao.
The 21-year-old is a La Masia trained midfielder upon whom much is expected, and he played alongside Sergi Roberto and Frenkie de Jong.
However, in scenes which are not normally associated with Barcelona, the Catalans found themselves overrun in midfield, as Unai Garcia and Dani Lopez totally dominated proceedings through the middle.
Carles Alena totally failed to pull his weight, and it therefore came as not much of a surprise when he was hauled off at half-time for Ivan Rakitic, with Barcelona gaining a stronger hold in the middle upon the introduction of the Croatian.
Ernesto Valverde has an abundance of options to choose from in midfield, and with Carles Alena yet to truly cement his stake in the team, he would be highly disappointed with his display against Athletic Bilbao.