Barcelona 2-0 Athletic Bilbao : 5 talking points

A brace from Neymar deep inside the second half was enough to hand Barcelona their third successive win as they beat a resilient Athletic Bilbao side 2-0 at home. The Blaugranas put up a lacklustre perfromance and it was only after the introduction of Neymar that they gained the required momentum in their play. As Barcelona cemented their place at the top of the La Liga table, we discuss the 5 major talking points from the game.

#1 Bilbao\'s stern defence made Barca slog

Although it was a tricky fixture, Barcelona were expected to pull off a comfortable win at home. However, it was quite contrasting to the pre-game expectations as they were made to work their fingers to the bone for they struggled to break down an obdurate Bilbao defence and had a tough time creating chances.

Bilbao goalkeeper Gorka Iraizoz saved off the efforts from Pedro, Rakitic and Munir early in the first half and also denied Jordi Alba’s low effort at the hour mark whereas  the19-year old Bilbao defender, Aymeric Laporte, thwarted Messi’s effort early on.

Los Leones made it difficult for Barca to find a breakthrough and were also able to contain Messi for much part of the game. All in all, despite the defeat, the visitors had a better a game than the home side, who looked spineless until Neymar was subbed in.

Athletic Bilbao may have lost the game, but left with their heads held high.