Barcelona faced off against Athletic Bilbao at the San Mames Stadium earlier today as they hoped to earn a good result on the road in La Liga. The Catalan outfit made a good start to the game and managed to get their noses ahead courtesy of Raphinha‘s goal in the first half injury-time. Barca went into the half-time break 1-0 to the good.
Xavi’s men controlled the game well in the second 45 minutes and earned a narrow 1-0 win away from home.
Let’s take a look at how each Barcelona player fared during the match against Bilbao.
GK: Marc-André ter Stegen – 7.5/10
The German keeper made a handful of promising saves at the back and secured a well-deserved clean sheet tonight.
RB: Sergi Roberto – 7/10
The Spaniard was solid when defending inside his half and had a couple of lively moments going forward.
CB: Jules Kounde – 7.5/10
Kounde cleared the danger when required and did enough to keep a clean sheet in the end.
CB: Andreas Christensen – 7/10
He made a lot of important clearances at the back and was a strong presence in the air.
LB: Alejandro Balde – 7/10
Balde was hardly worked defensively. However, he did make a handful of driving runs with the ball on the left flank.
CM: Gavi – 7.5/10
Gavi did his fair share of defending and put in a bright display in the Bilbao half.
CM: Sergio Busquets – 7.5/10
He anchored the midfield with conviction and picked up an assist for setting up Raphinha’s goal.
CM: Frenkie de Jong – 7/10
De Jong moved the ball really well from midfield and managed to create one good chance in the final third.
RW: Raphinha – 8/10
He was a constant menace on the left wing and scored the only goal of the contest in the dying embers of the first half.
ST: Robert Lewandowski – 7/10
Lewandowski had a few strikes at goal but didn’t do enough to get his name on the scoresheet.
LW: Ferran Torres – 6/10
He made one good run with the ball but hardly got a sniff at goal.
Substitutes:
CM: Franck Kessie – 6/10
Kessie added more energy to Xavi’s midfield.
LB: Marcos Alonso – N/A
He didn’t get enough time to influence the game.
LW: Ansu Fati – N/A
Fati got stuck in with a couple of tackles.
RW: Angel Alarcon – N/A
He came on for the final few minutes of the game.
