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The Spanish top flight officially kicked off this evening, with Barcelona beginning their title defence at San Mames against Athletic Bilbao. The Catalans had a less than desired start as they fell to a 1-0 defeat to the Basque side following a late bicycle kick from Artiz Aduriz.
Barça were without their captain Lionel Messi and struggled in his absence. Despite absolutely dominating the ball with 73% possession, the LaLiga champions were unable to create many dangerous chances. Barça managed just the two shots (11 total) on target throughout the course of the 90, the hosts fired off a total of 5 shots on target out of 11 attempts.
Throughout the course of both halves, the Basque’s were incredibly well structured and organised, pressurising the Barcelona back-line and midfield to disrupt their rhythm. Through the physicality of Raul Garcia, Barca continued to seem stunted, failing to get their front three into the game.
Ousmane Dembele and Antoine Griezmann both had to drop deep to receive the ball whilst Luis Suarez was starved of service. The Uruguayan in particular had a frustrating evening, missing a seemingly easy chance before then coming off injured.
Barcelona then, introduced Rafinha, who whilst generating a good shot that rattled the bar, did little in the bigger scheme of things in regards to the game. Heading into the second half, Barça subbed in Ivan Rakitic for Carlos Alena, who struggled in the opening half.
For Athletic, they continued with their game plan. The hosts had already tested Marc Andre Ter-Stegen, although, the German was largely comfortable with their attempts. They continued to outwork Barcelona as they sought a go-ahead goal. Eventually, they seemed willing to take the draw as they began to look to simply contain their opponents.
Throwing their best efforts, Barcelona continued to be frustrated as Athletic were consistently snuffing out every move. As the game began to simmer out and the Catalans began to back off, Bilbao rolled the dice once more, bringing on the retiring Artiz Aduriz. The 38-year-old made an immediate impact, latching onto a cross with a thunderous bicycle kick that left Barcelona stunned with a mere few minutes to go.
This defeat may come as a shock to Barcelona who register one of very few losses to Athletic and their first loss on opening day in over a decade. Whilst they can be relieved knowing Messi will return, the performance hardly inspired.
