Barcelona turn on the style to rout 10-man Athletic

Andy West 05:09 18/01/2016
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  • Red hot: Luis Suarez.

    Ruthless Barcelona rolled past the 10 men of Athletic Bilbao as Luis Suarez netted a hat-trick while Neymar, Lionel Messi and Ivan Rakitic also got onto the scoresheet.

    The only negative for the Catalan club was an injury – seemingly not too serious – to left-back Jordi Alba, and further concern was sparked when Messi was substituted at half-time and it wasn’t immediately clear whether he was rested or suffering from injury.

    But with two more clashes against Athletic coming up in the next 10 days in the Copa del Rey quarter-finals, this was an emphatic flexing of muscles from Luis Enrique’s side, although the visitors will attempt to immediately forget an encounter they had to contest with 10 men for 85 minutes at the Nou Camp.

    The game could have followed a very different path because Athletic squandered a glorious chance to take the lead in the opening minute. Gerard Pique was the culprit, gifting possession to Iker Muniain on the edge of the box with Claudio Bravo stranded well out of goal. Muniain found Javier Eraso, but with Barca defenders desperately scrambling back towards goal he could only shoot over.

    Man of the Match: Neymar

    • Suarez might have bagged a hat-trick but Neymar delivered an even more eye-catching performance, pulling out all his tricks and flicks. Netted a superb goal and then set up Suarez’s first two strikes.

    Seconds later, the game took a decisive turn and again Athletic contributed to their own downfall as Xabi Etxeita inexplicably left a through ball, allowing Suarez to round keeper Gorka Iraizoz, who floored the Uruguayan for a clear penalty and a red card. Substitute keeper Iago Herrerin came on for his first league action of the season, and he guessed the right way from Messi’s penalty but the Argentine’s strike was accurate enough to find the bottom corner.

    Athletic boss Ernesto Valverde changed to a 4-4-1 formation with everyone behind the ball, and Barca predictably enjoyed complete control of possession from that moment. They created a regular flow of chances, with Neymar, Suarez, Rakitic and Aleix Vidal all going close, but the visitors managed to create a decent chance of their own on a rare counter-attack when Oscar De Marcos raced through to force a good low save from Claudio Bravo.

    A second goal was looking inevitable, and it duly arrived when Suarez raced onto a loose ball and surged clear before squaring a perceptive pass to Neymar, who coolly chipped the advancing Herrerin. Messi went close with a free-kick before being replaced at half-time by Arda Turan, but within two minutes of the restart Barca moved further ahead as Neymar’s astute through ball released Suarez, who swept home a firm low finish.

    With the game clearly won, Barca appeared to lose their focus and became sloppy, and Athletic should have pulled one back when substitute Sabin Merino did well to cross from the right and find Eraso, who again shot over the bar. Immediately, Barca made it four as Neymar produced another glorious assist, receiving the ball on the left wing and beating two defenders to reach the byline before cutting back for Rakitic to stroke home.

    And Suarez soon added his second, perfectly controlling a diagonal cross from Turan on his chest and stabbing in a close-range finish. Neymar turned on the style in the final stages, grazing the top of the net with a free-kick and almost rounding Herrerin with another slaloming dribble, but Suarez had the final word as he rose to meet a cross from Sergio Busquets with a thumping header for his hat-trick.

    The victory moved Barcelona within two points of leaders Atletico but with a game in hand.

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