Athletic Bilbao vs. Barcelona: Tactical Review of La Liga Game

Barcelona moved to within a point of Real Madrid at the top of La Liga following a remarkable, engrossing 5-2 victory over Athletic Bilbao at the new San Mames.

Formations and XIs

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Athletic Bilbao played a 4-2-3-1 with Mikel San Jose and Mikel Rico holding the fort, Iker Muniain on the left and Unai Lopez centrally.

Barcelona, of course, played a 4-3-3 with Luis Suarez through the middle, Lionel Messi off the right, Jeremy Mathieu in to combat Aritz Aduriz's height and Xavi starting in central midfield.

1. Press, Press, Press

Athletic started at 100 mph, pressing high up the pitch and setting an exceptionally high defensive line. In the fifth minute, they caught Messi, Neymar and Suarez offside all at once, pushing all the way up to the halfway line and trusting their organisational skills.

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Barca defiantly attempted to play out from the back regardless and ended up putting goalkeeper Claudio Bravo under a heap of pressure with some awry back passes; Athletic, smelling blood and roared on by the crowd, committed to press with six and tried to force more mistakes.

It worked for approximately 15 minutes, and Barca barely put together a pass in the final third of note. But then came a real sucker punch: A free-kick, awarded for an innocuous handball, was converted via a heavy deflection off defender Aymeric Laporte. The visitors were a little lucky but were in possession of the all-important first goal.

2. Beating the First Line

Athletic continued to try and press, with Lopez, Muniain, Markel Susaeta and Aduriz working hard to drag their side up the pitch. The initial early blocks and tackles were putting the visitors under serious pressure, but over the course of the first half, Barca became more efficient in beating the first wave.

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A cute, clipped ball over the press and into Neymar set the tone for the rest of the game: The Brazilian collected, ran and passed forward into space. A one-two between Messi and Suarez saw the latter scoop home a brilliant strike from 18 yards, sealing a half-time scoreline that did not match the run of play.

Despite forcing Barca to play a more condensed game and often outmuscling them in tight spaces, Athletic were two down. Sheer quality—and in this case, hundreds of millions of euros worth of it—can make a telling difference.

3. Crossing

The game quickly became absurdly stretched, with both teams flying backward and forward to the delight of the fans. Athletic carved out several excellent chances of their own, with Aduriz forcing Bravo into two great saves and hitting the post.

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The choice method of attack was simple: crossing. Mathieu had been placed into the XI alongside Gerard Pique so that both centre-backs could battle fairly against Athletic's monstrous forward, but as the game wore on, he connected with more and more deliveries.

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A wonderful Lopez cross from the left saw Aduriz hit the post, and then later, continuous strong buildup play from Susaeta allowed for many, many opportunities. It was Mikel Rico who scored Athletic's first, but it was a simple finish after Aduriz had forced Bravo into parrying a shot clear.

Midway through the second half, Lopez squandered a golden chance to level matters after meeting a looping Susaeta cross at the far post but fumbled a poor effort wide.

4. Suicidal Lines

For a 10-minute period in the second half, the match went nuts, with four goals going in (three for Barca). It ended the match as a contest.

Athletic's pressing dropped off in its intensity after about 35 minutes, but the defensive line continued to shuffle up the pitch, trying to squeeze play. Barca enjoyed more and more time on the ball as the game went on, and the gaps were there to exploit.

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With Los Leones chasing the game, they continued to commit Rico and San Jose to attacks, leaving the defence unprotected. On many occasions, a flat back four raced back against Barca's vaunted front three as Xavi and Co. picked out long-range passes and switch balls.

Manager Ernesto Valverde threw caution to the wind in the first minute and never reined in his side—likely believing the match to be a free pass. It made for entertainment, but when you open up like this against Barcelona, you have to convert all of your chances on goal. Athletic missed four or five clear-cut ones; had every chance in the game been scored, this would have ended 15-10.

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