Copa Del Rey : Athletic Bilbao 1-2 Barcelona - Five Talking Points

Holders take a significant step towards the semi-finalsMunir El Haddadi and Neymar were on target for Barcelona as the defending champions put one foot in the semi-finals of the Copa Del Rey after a narrow 2-1 win over Athletic Bilbao at San Mames.Sans Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez for the trip to the Basque country, the Blaugrana made light of their absence when they raced to a 2-0 lead inside the first 25 minutes. Munir broke the deadlock after latching on to a cross from Ivan Rakitic before Neymar put the visitors in the driving seat 6 minutes later.The tie was all but over for Los Leones, but striker Artiz Aduriz sparked some hope when he halved the deficit with just a minute of normal time remaining. Barcelona were still unfazed, though, as they hold a crucial one-goal advantage going into the second leg at Camp Nou next week.Here are some of the major issues that shaped the game.

#1 Bilbao refuse to learn their lesson

Athletic Bilbao were too reckless again

On Sunday in La Liga, Athletic Bilbao were given a battering by Barcelona when the hosts plonked on them with 6 goals. The visitors were reduced to 10-men within just 5 minutes on the clock when ‘keeper Gorka Iraizoz fouled Suarez into the box, collecting himself a red. Bilbao, for the rest of the game, still made a few sly tackles that could have caused them more problems.

In the Copa fixture last evening, the Basque outfit were once again on it, making some dangerous tackles and fouls that could have had the same repercussions as at the weekend but were lucky to escape this time.

The match official of this game put the premium only on caution, brandishing only yellow cards even in the cases where it should have been a red. For the second game running, Bilbao were dangerously running the risk of going a man down for all their terrible challenges on the visitors, but courtesy to the modesty shown by the referee, they were saved the blushes this time.