Kickoff: 21:00 CEST / 20:00 BST / 3:00 PM EDT / 12:00 PM PDT
Venue: Estadio Olimpico Lluis Companys
Referee: Juan Martinez Munuera
Lineups:
Barcelona: Marc-Andre ter Stegen - Alejandro Balde, Inigo Martinez, Andrea Christensen, Joao Cancelo - Gavi, Oriol Romeu, Ilkay Gundogan - Joao Felix, Ferran Torres, Fermin Lopez
Subs: Inaki Pena, Ander Astralaga, Ronald Araujo, Marcos Alonso, Hector Fort, Unai Hernandez, Lamine Yamal, Marc Guiu
Athletic: Unai Simon - Yuri Berchiche, Aitor Paredes, Dani Vivian, Oscar de Marcos - Inigo Ruiz de Galarreta, Dani Garcia - Nico Williams, Oihan Sancet, Inaki Williams - Gorka Guruzeta
Subs: Julen Agirrezabala, Inigo Lekue, Imanol Garcia de Albeniz, Peru Nolaskoain, Malcom Adu Ares Djalo, Alex Berenguer, Ander Herrera, Benat Prados, Unai Gomez, Asier Villalibre, Raul Garcia
Match Events:
10’ - Ferran center to Joao Felix who hits the crossbar
14’ - Unai Simon with a huge save on Fermin Lopez
16’ - Yellow card for Gavi
27’ - Substitution for Athletic: Inigo Lekue on for Yuri Berchiche
37’ - Yellow card for Dani Garcia
41’ - Yellow card for Oriol Romeu
45+1’ - Nico Williams has a solid chance but ter Stegen makes a stop with his leg
45+2’ - End of half
58’ - Felix’s shot rebounds to Fermin Lopez as Unai Simon makes a double save
60’ - Substitution for Barcelona: Lamine Yamal and Araujo on for Oriol Romeu and Christensen respectively
64’ - Felix finds Yamal on the right side, but the latter can’t get his shot on target
67’ - Substitution for Athletic: Adu Ares and Benat Prados on for Guruzeta and Inigo Ruiz de Galarreta respectively
73’ - Yellow card for Adu Ares
76’ - Substitution for Athletic: Berenguer and Unai Gomez on for Nico Williams and Dani Garcia respectively
79’ - Substitution for Barcelona: Marcos Alonso and Marc Guiu on for Balde and Fermin Lopez respectively
80’ - Joao Felix finds Marc Guiu in open space. Marc Guiu is one on one against Unai Simon and gets a goal on his first touch. Barcelona 1, Athletic 0 – link
83’ - Yellow card for Marc Guiu
89’ - Yellow card for de Marcos
90+4’ - End of game. Barcelona 1, Athletic Club 0
Match Stats - via Livescore.com
| Barcelona | Athletic :–:|:–:|:–: xG | 1.45 | 0.53 xA | 0.55 | 0.84 Possession | 62% | 38% Shots on target | 7 | 3 Shots off target | 4 | 5 Blocked shots | 1 | 2 Corner kicks | 4 | 7 Offsides | 4 | 4 Fouls | 11 | 18 Yellow Cards | 3 | 3 Red Cards | 0 | 0
Standings:
| Team | GP | W | L | T | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Real Madrid | 10 | 8 | 1 | 1 | 21 | 7 | +14 | 25 |
| Girona | 10 | 8 | 1 | 1 | 24 | 13 | +11 | 25 |
| Barcelona | 10 | 7 | 0 | 3 | 22 | 10 | +12 | 24 |
| Atletico Madrid | 9 | 7 | 1 | 1 | 23 | 8 | +15 | 22 |
| Real Sociedad | 10 | 5 | 2 | 3 | 18 | 12 | +6 | 18 |
| Athletic Club | 10 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 16 | 10 | +6 | 17 |
| Rayo Vallecano | 10 | 4 | 2 | 4 | 12 | 13 | -1 | 16 |
| Real Betis | 10 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 12 | 14 | -2 | 14 |
| Osasuna | 10 | 4 | 5 | 1 | 11 | 14 | -3 | 13 |
| Valencia | 9 | 3 | 4 | 2 | 10 | 11 | -1 | 11 |
| Getafe | 10 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 13 | 16 | -3 | 11 |
| Las Palmas | 10 | 3 | 5 | 2 | 6 | 9 | -3 | 11 |
| Sevilla | 9 | 2 | 4 | 3 | 14 | 13 | +1 | 9 |
| Villarreal | 10 | 2 | 5 | 3 | 12 | 16 | -4 | 9 |
| Cadiz | 9 | 2 | 4 | 3 | 8 | 12 | -4 | 9 |
| Alaves | 10 | 2 | 5 | 3 | 8 | 14 | -6 | 9 |
| Mallorca | 10 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 12 | 16 | -4 | 8 |
| Celta Vigo | 10 | 1 | 6 | 3 | 10 | 18 | -8 | 6 |
| Granada | 10 | 1 | 6 | 3 | 15 | 25 | -10 | 6 |
| Almeria | 10 | 0 | 7 | 3 | 13 | 29 | -16 | 3 |
Upcoming Fixtures:
Barcelona: vs Madrid, 10.28, 16:15 CEST
Athletic: vs Valencia, 10.29, 18:30 CEST
Let me know if there are any mistakes, or if there’s something you want me to change
Barca looked a completely different side, and I’m unsure what changed. I was so extremely skeptical of them after that first-half display, but they came out swinging, and could’ve had a barrage of goals.
I was positively surprised by Guiu as well. He didn’t have too many chances to impress, but he scored that crucial goal, and I enjoyed his very positive playstyle. Excited to see more.
Romeu slows things down, his awareness of the pitch is relatively small and takes a bit of time to expand when he’s facing away from the opponent’s goal. When he doesn’t get the chance to see and settle because he got pressured immediately, you see him apparently needlessly holding the ball up protecting it and risk losing the ball on Barca’s side of the pitch. (If you keep an eye out on it, you will notice moments like these happening too often, it will appear like he’s inviting pressure for no reason and not playing the ball away, it’s because he’s unsure of doing anything)
Now I also notice his defenders and keeper being a extra wary of passing to him if he doesn’t have way more space, because he turns slow and makes decisions slow.
He works best letting Frenkie do the attacking part of the job.