Athletic Bilbao 1-0 Barcelona
In what was an intense low-scoring affair, the Athletic Bilbao have wielded the upset axe against Barcelona in the opening week of the La Liga.
Athletic Bilbao’s La Liga 2019 odds on winning this game have significantly increased when the defending champs were without Leo Messi – who was nursing a calf injury. Eventually, fellow striker Luis Suarez was also pulled out in the game with an injury on his own.
Supported by the raucous home crowd in the San Mames Stadium, Los Leones hit the ground running from the get-go, as several players took turns in impressing the crowd.
Forward Aritz Aduriz came off the bench for Athletic and scored the game-winning goal at the 89th minute, sealing Barca’s fate.
The 38-year-old has now scored at least one goal in 15 consecutive seasons in the La Liga, putting him beside Messi as the only players to achieve such feat. What a way to start off his farewell tour!
Allow SBOBET to relive some of the game’s most notable highlights in this fixture.
Highlights of the game
Spanish forward Iñaki Williams set the tempo for most of the first half with his direct running and firm control of the ball.
The 25-year-old let out a rightie long-range strike in the seventh minute, but Marc-Andre ter Stegen was there to deflect the ball out of the way. Seven minutes later, Williams outran Barca’s flat-footed defence towards inside the box but the goal still eluded the tireless striker.
Antoine Griezmann and Frenkie De Jong finally made their debuts for Barca, but they didn’t look their best in this game. To make matters worse for the club, Luis Suarez was also having a hard time as he bore the responsibility of filling in the void left by Messi.
Speaking of Suarez, the Uruguay national almost scored the first goal of the game with a lovely chance. However, his shot was a tad overcooked and it bounced off the left post unfortunately. He then limped his way to the bench and never returned.
Raul Garcia almost scored a connection from Ander Capa in the 36th minute, but the defending champs survived another scare with ter Stegen’s heroics.
Barcelona manager Ernesto Valverde looked to be very frustrated for his injury-hit side, which is why he made some key lineup changes. He brought in Rafinha early and Ivan Rakitic off the bench in the second half.
Both subs had great chances for a shot on target for the road team. Rafinha’s strong attempt outside the box hit the crossbar before ending the first half. Meanwhile, Ivan Rakitic squandered two more scoring chances – first via a header off of an Ousmane Dembele corner kick, and a wayward kick after a mad scramble in the box with less than 20 minutes remaining.
The wards from Camp Nou had chance after chance but failed to convert. However, it was admirable for Ernesto Valverde’s side to hang tough despite their predicament.
Unai Simon’s efforts won’t go unnoticed in this match. The Athletic Bilbao goalkeeper repulsed Rafinha’s run towards the goal in the 80th minute and he did it again by stopping the goal attempt of Antoinne Griezmann after a cross by Jordi Alba.
The missed opportunities haunted Barca in the final minute when Aritz Aduriz unleashed a bicycle kick goal that sealed the deal at 1-0. That exquisite score will undoubtedly be a great addition to the La Liga 2019 highlights
Barcelona’s last chance came in the additional five minutes when Rafinha volleyed a cross for a possible score. But once again, it was Simon who came to the rescue and thwarted the header of an attempt.
Key statistics
47,693 fans have come to watch in this highly-anticipated matchup at the San Mames Stadium.
Athletic Bilbao have an unblemished record in their last 14 games at home in La Liga.
New Barca players Frenkie de Jong and Antoinne Griezmann have signed for a whopping total of £172M. While Messi and Suarez were huge losses, players with their price tags should at least still be good enough to get a victory.
Surprisingly, Barcelona had more time with the ball (72-per cent possession) and corner attempts (8) than Athletic Bilbao. The host team has five shots on target compared to Barca’s two.
This was Athletic’s first league victory over Barcelona since 2013.
What’s next?
Athletic Bilbao is slated to go up against Getafe CF while Barcelona will go back to Camp Nou to host Real Betis on Sunday, August 25.
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