Lionel Messi’s fifth Ballon d’Or title was marked with a showing off of the prestigious accolade prior to Barcelona’s 6-0 hammering of Athletic Club at the Nou Camp on Sunday.
Advertisement
Defender Luis sent Juanfran’s pass into the far corner on 17 minutes to score his first goal since returning to Atletico from Chelsea, while on 68 minutes top scorer Griezmann finished off a through-ball from Koke to double the lead.
The Turkish global has started in the reigning La Liga champions previous last three games and head coach Luis Enrique has described him as being someone with potential to be a key player in his side.
Barca move on to 45 points from 19 games but still trail Primera Division leaders Atletico Madrid by two points, although they have a game in hand.
It has been a dissapointing season for Atheltic Bilbao as they sit 8th in La Liga which is right underneath the European competition qualifying spots. They are one point below Sevilla.
Aduriz is arguably Athletic Bilbao’s only potent weapon when it comes to a match of this magnitude and it is tough to see where their goals will now come from, with winger Inaki Williams expected to bear the brunt of attacking efficiency. Two huge games for Bilbao.
As Sport indicated, the injury has poor timing for the Blaugrana with concerns remaining over the fitness of Jeremy Mathieu and Adriano.
Bilbao have also announced that midfielder Raul Garica has been ruled out for an extended time with a knee injury. “But, as is always the case, it comes down to price, negotiations, circumstances”, said Luis Enrique on Saturday, who added that “until the transfer window closes, there’s always the possibility of movement, but if nobody arrives I dont want anyone to leave”.
Advertisement
‘I’m expecting the same as always (from Athletic).
