Athletic 2 – Barcelona 2: Soggy Conditions, Sloppy Defending
By: Paul | November 6th, 2011
Athletic looked to be set to hand Barcelona their first defeat of the season and come away with a stunning victory. Unfortunately, messy defensive work in the final moments of the match cost Athletic dearly.
As expected, Barcelona played like Barcelona. In soggy conditions, they still held on to possession and passed the ball around wonderfully. As such, the Blaugrana had the first chances of the match but were unable to make them count. Athletic fought back with Markel Susaeta taking a chance that was easily saved before a breakthrough 20 minutes in.
Susaeta was again involved, laying the ball off to Ander Herrera who was able to curl his shot past Victor Valdes. It wasn’t long before Barcelona responded, with Cesc Fabregas heading home a cross from Abidal.
While Barcelona remained largely in control, Athletic were able to make some threatening moves, though neither team found another goal in the first half.
In the 54th minute Lionel Messi appeared to have scored, but was called offside just before an appeal by Athletic for a penalty after Ander was knocked down in the box (probably wasn’t deserved, though).
In the 80th, Abidal attempted to clear the ball which was then touched by Gerard Pique and sent into the back of Barcelona’s goal. Athletic held on, and just when it looked like Los Leones would steal a win, Athletic’s defense cracked- a shot was taken and saved by Gorka who failed to hold on. Athletic’s defenders looked confused, and Lionel Messi ran up and drove the ball home to rescue a point for Barcelona.
Maybe it was the rain, but the last 15 minutes or so of the match saw defensive mistakes from both teams. Overall, I am disappointed that the win couldn’t be attained, but still pleased to see Athletic come away with a point against Barcelona.
Category: Athletic Bilbao Team News
Comments
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Don’t you think there were too many cheap fouls against Athletic and on the other hand, Barcelona got away with some. The referee gave a foul for every pull except for a few Barcelona did, like the one against Iraola in the penalty area and the one against Llorente when Alves tore his shirt. I just think too many decisions went against Athletic and when you play against an opposition like Barca, it makes things really complicated. Plus Athletic were given the yellow for the same kind of fouls Barca weren’t given any cards. And if the foul Dani Alves made was given, things would have been different. It might have not lead to Amorebieta being sent off and to Barca’s second. It’s not news Barca and Real have that kind of support in pretty much every game in which they struggle, but, in my opinion, these things count and they are worth mentioning.
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It’s hard to say, really.
Not sure about the other possible fouls but I think that the one on Llorente was not seen by the referee.
Barcelona definitely didn’t foul as much but, then again, it is worth mentioning that Athletic are known for playing a tough physical game, while Barcelona play a more careful possession game. Because Barcelona dominates possession, Athletic are bound to foul more. It is possible that some of the cards were harsh, but they were probably given less for individual fouls as they were for consistent fouling.
Plus, I don’t think that the cards or fouls made much of a difference in the match.
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Weather conditions I would say helped Bilbao a bit. It was a good game and Bilbao is really unlucky to not have won it, sloppy defending cost Athletic 2 points IMHO but that’s football.
@Vicky
Now that you mention it, every time Barca seem to struggle against an opponent they get a red card. It happened in every La Liga match except for Gijon seems awfully suspicious to me. And the worst part is it’s nothing new. Also Dani Alves got to be Barca’s worst player he is the one that makes the hardest tackles and he is the first to dive. And I don’t like watching Barca and I don’t watch them often but they really commit a lot of fouls even yellow card fouls and they get away with it. -
@Jafar:
I think that the amount of cards Barcelona’s opponents receive has less to do with referee bias and more to do with Barca’s style of play drawing fouls and forcing mistakes from the other team.
Maybe I’m just an idealist…
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@Paul:
I agree Athletic are the team playing tougher game, they usually make lots of fouls. And Barcelona obviously are a different story. At the end of the day, Athletic made a few mistakes that cost them dear. Mistakes that could have easily been avoided.
But for me, Barcelona are not only an example of beautiful passing game, they are an example of diving and putting pressure on the referees. That’s why I’ll never have respect for them. And the reason, I think, they get helped every once in a while is because those two team Barca and Real, they represent La Liga around the world, and there can not be a drop in quality. Plus the league can’t afford to see one of the “two horses” fall behind. I’m not saying this is happening only in Spain or anything. If you look at Manchester United, they got 10 points out of decisions last year. And they won the title by nine. So basically it’s a multi-billion business and I am convinced it matters more than anything. Of course, I wouldn’t go as far as saying that’s the reason Athletic didn’t win the other day.
I am an idealist too. That’s why I follow Athletic. But football has changed and not in a good way.
@Jafar
I agree with you, Dani Alves is the dirtiest player in the Barcelona squad and he gets praises for being an excellent defender and valuable in attack, but the truth is he’s a despicable player, who would tear, pinch, bite and dive every single time and then bitch about it to the referee.
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