Barcelona 4-0 Athletic Bilbao: Match Review

The clash between Barcelona and Athletic Club was expected to be closely-competed on multiple levels. The two teams have a rich history of nail-biting clashes and offered two strikingly different approaches to the same game.

And it was the Catalans who came up trumps with a superb 4-0 win, completely outplaying Athletic Club, managed by former Barcelona coach Ernesto Valverde.

Hosting the Basque side after a strong 3-0 win over Villarreal, Xavi made a host of changes in his starting lineup. For starters, the manager changed the team’s formation to accommodate an extra midfielder at the cost of one forward.

Sergi Roberto, Jules Kounde, Eric Garcia and Alejandro Balde started in defence on the night behind a seemingly double pivot of Frenkie de Jong and Sergio Busquets.

Pedri and Gavi completed the midfield, playing advanced roles, while Robert Lewandowski and Ousmane Dembele rounded off the team in attack.

The first half saw Barcelona start strong and finish stronger. It was possibly 45 minutes of the most dominant football the Catalans have played all season, as they gave the visitors no room to breathe.

Similar to the game against Villarreal midweek, Barcelona scored three goals in ten minutes in the first half to shatter their opponents’ confidence.

The first such moment came in just the 12th minute when Dembele’s effort from distance was saved by Unai Simon. The deflected ball fell into the path of Lewandowski, who floated a cross across the face of the goal for Dembele to head it in.

Just six minutes later, the hosts had two goals to their name. After an intricate one-two with Dembele, Sergi Roberto received the ball inside the Athletic area and fired a strong shot goalward. He was helped by a small deflection off the defender and hit the back of the net.

Robert Lewandowski did not take long to get his name on the scoresheet as he produced a stellar goal in the 22nd minute. The move again began with Dembele who dribbled past the full-back and crossed the ball to the Pole.

With a slick turn, the striker left his man for dead and fired the ball past Simon for his 12th La Liga goal of the season. Barcelona’s new marksman is well on track to claim the Pichichi award for top-scorer in the league at this rate.

At the half-hour mark, Gavi suffered a strong blow to his inner thigh after a rough clash and was forced to hobble off the field. Franck Kessie replaced the Golden Boy winner.

Heading into half-time, the hosts had a dominant three-goal lead and seemed set to cruise to a second successive league win.

The second half resumed with Barcelona dominating and creating chances for fun with every attack. They were unlucky to miss in the 57th minute when Dembele hit the post.

Ferran Torres, Marcos Alonso and Ansu Fati came on for Pedri, Jules Kounde and Lewt in the 60th minute. Even after the changes, the one-sided Catalan show continued.

Xavi’s men made it four on the night in the 73rd minute through Ferran Torres. The assist, once again, came from Ousmane Dembele. The Frenchman made a defence-splitting pass after a short dribble straight into Torres’ path. The Spanish international guided the ball past Simon seamlessly to make it 4-0.

Pablo Torre came on in the 76th minute for Dembele. Less than ten minutes later, Segu Roberto seemingly dislocated his shoulder and was forced to go off the field. Having made all five changes, Barcelona had to play with only 10 players for the final few minutes.

Nevertheless, the Blaugranas held on to register their ninth win in 11 league games. Their next clash sees them take on Bayern Munich at Spotify Camp Nou on Wednesday in what could be their penultimate UCL clash of the season.