A victorious visit to Bilbao against Athletic today. In the game between two teams who had very little clue what to do, a magnificent curler from Yamal right into the top corner in off the post was the difference maker. Both teams played Copa semis during midweek but I expected to see more regardless.
The first half was mostly controlled by Barca in terms of possession, but very little to show for it. Ferran wasted a great pass from Yamal and had a decent flick attempt from the corner delivery, but no shots on target in the opening 45 minutes, a rarity.
The start of second half was a bit better, but terribly sloppy after scoring the goal, I can't recall when Barca lost the ball that many times in our own half, on several occasions without being pressured. Fortunate that Bilbao weren't good enough either to take advantage. They have been generally below their usual standards. Only 30 goals in La Liga so far and unsurprisingly in the middle of the table now, a noticeable drop from last season when they qualified for the Champions League.
Of all the substitutions, only Pedri made a noticeable impact, being the one guy calm in possession when given the chance, and providing an excellent assist for the sole goal. Raphinha put in the effort though in his defense most passes never came close to reaching him.
Same goes for the jealous, insecure, selfish, narcissistic, weird fraud from Poland who returned after a brief absence due to eye injury. Considering Ferran's drop in form is a bit worrying, hopefully the veteran can deliver soon like he used to in the past, so we get a chance for more glory this season. And who knows, maybe he stumbles his way into a 14th domestic league of his own...
With this result, and another usual robbery from los ladrones del futbol yesterday, the difference at the top of the table remains 4 points. But enough
barking from me today. A visit to Newcastle coming up next, and hopefully a significant improvement from what we saw today...
From @El Joc Màgic praying that Barca have less than three points deficit before El Clasico to Barca leading by four points just two weeks later is some scary Catalan voodoo I swear...
How realistic is it, we will see...
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