Barcelona claimed their second victory over Athletic Bilbao inside four days and took a step towards the Copa del Rey semi-finals after a 2-1 win at San Mames.
The Catalan giants were without two of their much-vaunted trio, with Lionel Messi injured and Luis Suarez suspended, but the third of the triumvirate Neymar netted the visitors’ second goal after 24 minutes of this quarter-final first-leg tie.
Six minutes earlier, Munir El Haddadi opened the scoring after a wonderful assist from the influential Ivan Rakitic although Bilbao, who were thrashed 6-0 in the Primera Division meeting at the weekend, pulled one back in the closing stages through Aritz Aduriz ahead of next Wednesday’s second leg.
5 - Neymar has scored in his last five appearances against Athletic (6 goals, all competitions). Nightmare.
— OptaJose (@OptaJose) January 20, 2016The two teams met in last year’s final, in which Barca won en route to a memorable treble of league, cup and Champions League triumphs, and Bilbao’s feeling of foreboding may have increased following their recent mauling at the Nou Camp.
However, newly-crowned Ballon d’Or winner Messi was ruled out due to a hamstring problem he picked up against Bilbao while fellow forward Suarez served the first of a two-match ban for something he was alleged to have said to Espanyol players in the previous round.
The visitors did not seem to be missing their two stars early on, with Neymar only denied by a fantastic tip over from Bilbao goalkeeper Iago Herrerin.
However, Barca were not to be denied as they took an 18th-minute lead thanks to Munir’s first-time finish from Rakitic’s inch-perfect right-wing cross.
Neymar got on the scoresheet a few minutes later when he touched the ball past Herrerin before rolling the ball into an empty net after a Bilbao defender had slipped at a crucial moment.
Luis Enrique’s men continued to dominate proceedings although they were unable to create any more openings before half-time.
Shortly after the interval, Munir’s audacious chip almost caught out Herrerin, but the Bilbao shot-stopper managed to get back in time while at the other end, Javier Eraso narrowly missed the target with his strike.
However, Bilbao were starting to get frustrated and five of their players were booked inside a 20-minute period in the second half. Aymeric Laporte, Oscar de Marcos, Xabier Etxeita, Ander Iturraspe and Sabin Merino all received yellow cards for various infractions.
Merino was denied by Marc-Andre ter Stegen as the home side looked to halve the deficit and they were rewarded when Aduriz converted from close range, giving Bilbao a faint hope ahead of the return leg at the Nou Camp.
