Barca Blaugranes - La Liga: Athletic Bilbao vs FC Barcelona: Full Match Coverage#GraciesTitohttps://cdn.vox-cdn.com/community_logos/47187/barca-fave.png2013-04-28T17:17:48+02:00http://www.barcablaugranes.com/rss/stream/40378212013-04-28T17:17:48+02:002013-04-28T17:17:48+02:00Highlights: Barcelona 2-2 Athletic Bilbao
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<figcaption>Gonzalo Arroyo Moreno</figcaption>
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<p>A chance to relive some of the best moments from last night's 2-2 draw between Barcelona and Athletic Bilbao</p> <p style="text-align: justify;">In recent weeks, the people at Youtube have acted quickly to take down highlight videos involving FC Barcelona, perhaps the results and indeed the action wasn't to their satisfaction? Well, thankfully there can be no such complaints after last night's 2-2 draw between the Blaugrana and Athletic Bilbao; especially after Lionel Messi's sensational equaliser. Dribbling past half the Bilbao defense, Messi stunned the San Mames crowd with an early contender for the 2013 FIFA Puskas Award - watching from the comforts of my home in England, I was delighted, but not quite as happy as world-renowned former-footballer-turned-commentator, Ray Hudson. </p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">Of course, everyone knows that Hudson has a particular fondness for Lionel Messi's other-worldly abilities - so just how would he react to this goal? Watch the video above to find out.</p>
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https://www.barcablaugranes.com/2013/4/28/4278580/la-liga-athletic-bilbao-2-2-fc-barcelona-highlightsArron Duckling2013-04-27T20:17:58+02:002013-04-27T20:17:58+02:00La Liga: Barcelona 2-2 Ath. Bilbao: Match Review
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<figcaption>Gonzalo Arroyo Moreno</figcaption>
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<p>A recap of Barcelona's 2-2 draw with Athletic Bilbao as Ander Herrera's last-minute equaliser secured a share of the points for Marcelo Bielsa's side in the last match between the two sides at San Mames</p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><a href="https://athletic.theoffside.com/" class="sbn-auto-link">Athletic Bilbao</a> left it late to secure a share of the spoils tonight as they held La Liga champions-elect FC <a href="https://www.barcablaugranes.com/" class="sbn-auto-link">Barcelona</a> to a 2-2 in the final match between the two sides at San Mames. Athletic took the lead on 27 minutes through Markel Susaeta’s tap-in, and remained ahead until the 67<sup>th</sup> minute, when Barcelona substitute <a href="http://www.sbnation.com/soccer/fifa/players/110061/lionel-messi" class="sbn-auto-link">Lionel Messi</a> waltzed through the Basque defense to drag the Blaugrana back into the match. Messi then turned creator, supplying an assist for Alexis Sánchez’ 69<sup>th</sup> minute half-volley, but Athletic and <span>Marcelo Bielsa</span> would have the last laugh, striking in the 90<sup>th</sup> minute through Ander Herrera.</p>
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<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt;"><b>Athletic Bilbao</b></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt;"><b>Barcelona</b></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt;"><b>42%</b></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt;"><b>7</b></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt;"><b>15</b></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt;"><b>Shots on Target</b></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt;"><b>3</b></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt;"><b>6</b></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt;"><b>Pass Accuracy</b></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt;"><b>68%</b></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt;"><b>82%</b></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt;"><b>17</b></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt;"><b>Yellow Cards</b></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span>Tito Vilanova</span> hinted on Friday that Barcelona’s UEFA Champions League semi-final against Bayern Munich was not yet over, despite the Blaugrana’s heavy 4-0 defeat at the Allianz Arena, but his team selection for tonight’s match against Athletic Bilbao suggested otherwise. Rather than resting the likes of Xavi Hernández, Gerard Piqué, <a href="http://www.sbnation.com/soccer/fifa/players/110098/dani-alves" class="sbn-auto-link">Dani Alves</a> and Pedro Rodriguez, Tito selected a strong XI – with Lionel Messi the notable absentee. The Argentine superstar did make the bench, but was clearly not ready to start his second match in under a week following his "recovery" from a hamstring injury. Would Barcelona be able to finish their week on a high with a victory against Marcelo Bielsa’s Athletic Bilbao, or would the Basque side get revenge for last season’s Copa del Rey final defeat?</p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">If the early stages of the match were anything to go by, maybe Bielsa’s side would be able to get the win they so desperately wanted – in the opening quarter-of-an-hour, Barcelona were struggling to keep possession, and more importantly, keep Athletic at bay. Ander Herrera could have inadvertently opened the scoring around the eight minute mark, coming within a few feet of the far corner of the net with his teasing cross that also evaded the out-stretched leg of Artiz Aduriz, who was starting ahead of <a href="http://www.sbnation.com/soccer/fifa/players/110871/fernando-llorente" class="sbn-auto-link">Fernando Llorente</a> in attack, as he has done for the majority of this season.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">In some respects, it was almost as though Barcelona were suffering from the after-effects of that heavy 4-0 defeat against Bayern Munich. Short on confidence, and a little weary of committing players forward, Barça needed to improve – and thankfully that chance for Aduriz prompted the Blaugrana to spring into life. Gerard Piqué was guilty of wasting a decent chance as Barcelona threatened from a corner (!) but Barça’s first real chance of the evening fell to Alexis Sánchez, after a nice pass from Cesc Fàbregas. The under-fire duo have impressed in the past few weeks, demonstrating superb chemistry to create a number of goals against the likes of <a href="http://www.sbnation.com/soccer/la-liga/teams/mallorca" class="sbn-auto-link">Mallorca</a> and more recently, Real <a href="http://www.sbnation.com/soccer/la-liga/teams/zaragoza" class="sbn-auto-link">Zaragoza</a> – and they combined to great effect once again, although this time Alexis Sánchez struck the post rather than the back of the net. Still, this was promising play from the Blaugrana. Would they be able to capitalise on this spell of pressure?</p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">Unfortunately not.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">Instead it was Athletic Bilbao who would open the scoring as Markel Susaeta converted from close-range following an exceptional assist from Aritz Aduriz. Not only did the Bilbao number 20 display an excellent turn of pace to escape the challenge of Gerard Piqué but he also provided Susaeta with a perfectly-weighted low cross; whether he was marginally offside or not, Susaeta couldn’t pass up an opportunity like this – firing the hosts into a surprise lead at San Mames.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">To their credit, Barcelona didn’t let that goal faze them; sure, they were a goal behind against Athletic away from home, but this wasn’t an entirely unexpected set-back, and Barça knew how to respond. Cesc Fàbregas came the closest, nearly finding the back of the net from an absurd angle just on the stroke of half-time. However, despite his best efforts, Barça were still trailing at the interval.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">Tito Vilanova made a change at the break, replacing <span>Eric Abidal</span> with Adriano Correia, possibly with one eye on Wednesday’s clash with Bayern Munich. Or maybe Tito felt as though Abidal needed to be taken off – it hadn’t been his best half of football after all. Whatever the case, Adriano slotted into the heart of defense alongside Gerard Piqué as Barcelona pressed forward in search of an equaliser. Despite trailing at San Mames, Barça actually took a quarter-of-an-hour to register their first shot of the second-half, which was created by their latest substitute, Lionel Messi. Obviously, Messi struggled to make an impact against Bayern, but the Argentine was showing little sign of an injury tonight, immediately changing the match. If Pedro would have been a little more compose in front of goal, Messi could have easily got an assist within just two minutes of entering the field of play – not that it really mattered, Bilbao couldn’t keep Messi at bay for long.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">It’s been a long time since we last saw Messi in a La Liga match, so it’s easy to forget about his staggering scoring record – which he duly extended tonight, in quite sensational fashion. Thanks to the midweek defeat, and in part, to the start of this match, many have raised legitimate concerns about whether Barcelona can succeed without Lionel Messi in attack – although does it really matter when Barça do have Messi, and he is capable of scoring goals like this? Taking on one defender isn’t quite enough for a player of his calibre, instead, Messi took on the entire Bilbao defense, and left them all in his wake with mesmeric close control and jaw-dropping acceleration. And as if the dribbling wasn’t enough, Messi followed it up with a world-class finish, caressing the ball into the corner of the net from the edge of Iraizoz’ area. A brilliant goal from a brilliant player. Could Barcelona now go on and secure the three points?</p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">With Messi on the field, anything was possible – including a second goal within just three minutes.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">Unsurprisingly, Lionel Messi was the creator – albeit in a rather bizarre fashion. Was he going for goal? Did he really mean to pick out Alexis Sánchez? Did it really matter? All that mattered was that Messi headed Dani Alves’ cross to the Chilean, and that after an excellent first-touch, Alexis was able to finish from close-range. It had taken Lionel Messi just 10 minutes to turn this game on its head; maybe the title could be won tonight after all?</p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">Certainly, with a goal advantage, it seemed as though Barcelona would be holding up their side of the bargain – even if Atletico were yet to kick-off against <a href="https://www.managingmadrid.com/" class="sbn-auto-link">Real Madrid</a> – but if we’ve learnt anything over the years, it’s that you cannot rest on your laurels at San Mames. Athletic Bilbao fight tooth and nail until the final whistle and tonight would not be an exception.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">With 90 minutes on the clock, Bilbao delivered a crushing blow to Barça’s title hopes with a late equaliser, courtesy of Ander Herrera. Sure, Barcelona can and will still win the title, but this goal meant that they would have to wait until next week – or possibly even longer than that – to secure the title. Once again, the chance came as Barcelona failed to clear their lines following a cross into the area, and again, the opposition took full advantage of that "mistake" to score a valuable goal. Hardly the morale-boosting end that Barcelona were hoping for as they approach their UEFA Champions League semi-final second-leg against Bayern Munich...but until then, Visca el Barça!</p>
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https://www.barcablaugranes.com/2013/4/27/4275294/la-liga-athletic-bilbao-2-2-fc-barcelona-match-reviewArron Duckling2013-04-27T10:32:17+02:002013-04-27T10:32:17+02:00Predict the Score: Barcelona vs Athletic Bilbao
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<figcaption>Angel Martinez</figcaption>
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<p>A chance to predict the score of tonight's La Liga clash between FC Barcelona and Athletic Bilbao. Could the Blaugrana secure their 22nd La Liga title tonight?</p> <p style="text-align: justify;">It could be the perfect end to a difficult week; provided <a href="https://www.barcablaugranes.com/" class="sbn-auto-link">Barcelona</a> win tonight at San Mames against Athletic Bilbao and Real Madrid lose against city rivals Atletico Madrid, the Blaugrana could secure their 22nd La Liga title, just a few days after suffering a heavy defeat against Bayern Munich. Of course, that would require Atletico winning their first derby match of the millennium, and snapping a nine-match losing streak against Los Blancos, but with <a href="http://www.sbnation.com/soccer/fifa/players/110670/cristiano-ronaldo" class="sbn-auto-link">Cristiano Ronaldo</a> missing out through injury, Cules will perhaps feel a little more confident of Atleti's chances. Just like Barcelona, Atletico have not conceded a single goal in their last three La Liga matches, while Falcao appears to have found his scoring touch once again...could Atleti move level on points with Real Madrid tonight, gifting the Blaugrana the title in the process?</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">Maybe they will, maybe they won't, but first Barcelona will have to fulfil their side of the bargain, and defeat Athletic Bilbao at San Mames. Over the years, Barcelona have played 99 matches at the historic stadium, winning just 28 of those fixtures and losing 49 matches - and if Iker Muniain is to be believed, Athletic will be going all-out to make that 50 with a win tonight. However, having won just one of their last five fixtures, Bilbao are still heavy underdogs to secure a result tonight. Even without <span>Sergio Busquets</span> and possibly even <a href="http://www.sbnation.com/soccer/fifa/players/110061/lionel-messi" class="sbn-auto-link">Lionel Messi</a>, Barcelona are expected to be too strong for their Basque counterparts. But what do you think? Predict the score of tonight's match by voting in our poll below, and commenting with your prediction to be in with a chance of winning a Barca-related prize at the season's end. Best of luck!</p>
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https://www.barcablaugranes.com/2013/4/27/4273792/la-liga-athletic-bilbao-vs-fc-barcelona-predict-the-scoreArron Duckling2013-04-26T23:06:04+02:002013-04-26T23:06:04+02:00La Liga: Barcelona vs Ath. Bilbao: Match Preview
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<img alt="Wait a minute...we only won the Copa del Rey in 2012, but this season is meant to be worse?" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/GsAp-P8g1KgnK5G01oPoH_Ph938=/0x11:532x366/1310x873/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/12228179/145294996.0.jpg" />
<figcaption>Wait a minute...we only won the Copa del Rey in 2012, but this season is meant to be worse? | Denis Doyle</figcaption>
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<p>A preview of Barcelona's La Liga fixture with Athletic Bilbao, as the Blaugrana prepare to play at San Mames for the final time</p> <p style="text-align: justify;">FC <a href="https://www.barcablaugranes.com/" class="sbn-auto-link">Barcelona</a> will be looking to put Tuesday’s devastating 4-0 defeat at the hands of Bayern Munich behind them tomorrow when they take on <a href="https://athletic.theoffside.com/" class="sbn-auto-link">Athletic Bilbao</a> in the Blaugrana’s last-ever match at San Mames. Over the years, we have seen some epic clashes between the two sides – last season’s 2-2 draw on a waterlogged pitch, and of course who can forget Barcelona’s last two Copa del Rey final victories? Will we be treated to another entertaining affair tomorrow? Can Barcelona secure the La Liga title with five matches remaining?</p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><b>TEAM NEWS</b></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><b>BARCELONA</b></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">After their midweek defeat against Bayern Munich, everyone has turned their attention to the summer transfer window, wondering just what – and more importantly who – lies ahead for Barcelona. Neymar? Mats Hummels? <a href="http://www.sbnation.com/soccer/fifa/players/141782/thiago-silva" class="sbn-auto-link">Thiago Silva</a>? Success? Of course, it’s impossible to tell; but it is fun to speculate, especially when it takes our mind off of that heavy defeat – a heavy defeat that brought a few issues to light. Included in that list was injuries – <a href="http://www.sbnation.com/soccer/fifa/players/110061/lionel-messi" class="sbn-auto-link">Lionel Messi</a> and <span>Sergio Busquets</span> were clearly struggling for fitness on Tuesday, and Barça suffered as a result. Busquets has already been ruled out of tomorrow’s match, and should Messi sit out too? Certainly for all the talk of a dependency on the Argentine superstar, Barcelona have been in scintillating form in the past few weeks – scored nine and conceded zero (even with a supposedly terrible defense).</p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">Unfortunately, Valdés couldn’t carry that form over to the UEFA Champions League, conceding four goals against in-form Bayern Munich. There were times were I thought that Valdés could and should have done better – for Müller’s opening goal in particular – but really, what did it matter? The way the match was going, it only would have been delaying the inevitable, or at least, Valdés isn’t to blame for the heavy margin of defeat. Despite a statistically poor season, Valdés is third in the race for the Zamora trophy, and has a realistic shot at second-place.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">The rest of the team on the other hand, is a little tougher to predict. Does <span>Tito Vilanova</span> rest some key names ahead of the return-leg of the Champions League? Or does he accept that the tie is over – for the record, I don’t think the tie is over – and focus his attention on La Liga? Perhaps a mixture of the two is in order; starting with <a href="http://www.sbnation.com/soccer/fifa/players/110098/dani-alves" class="sbn-auto-link">Dani Alves</a> at right-back. The Brazilian is still very much first-choice, and seemingly still in good enough shape to start each and every match, even if he does turn 30 in a little over a week’s time. Maybe it’s affecting <span>Martin Montoya</span>’s development – in his natural position anyway – but it does solve a problem that has the potential to strike at any time: Adriano’s fitness. Ironically, Adriano is available and will probably start tomorrow, but is he a player we can count on in the long-run?</p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">Same goes with <span>Eric Abidal</span> – we all love the guy, and want him to stay at the club, but only if there’s a role for him to fill. He completed 90 minutes last weekend and looked excellent, but can he do it again? Can he do it twice in a week? And if so, do we need to spend a small fortune on a centre-half? Hopefully Abidal will also start tomorrow, and perform against a physically-demanding Bilbao attack – and ideally, he will have <span>Marc Bartra</span> for company. Despite the scoreline, Bartra looked "OK" against Bayern Munich – but he needs more experience if he is to grow into his role at the club and ultimately succeed.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span>Alex Song</span> will start at pivote in Busquets’ absence, which means no start for <a href="http://www.sbnation.com/soccer/fifa/players/110457/jonathan-dos-santos" class="sbn-auto-link">Jonathan dos Santos</a>, who celebrated his 23<sup>rd</sup> birthday today. Rather amusingly, Song admitted today that he moved to Barcelona for a chance at winning titles – yet judging by the midweek match against Bayern, no-one quite trusts him enough to allow him a chance to help us secure those titles. Despite Busquets’ struggles with a groin injury, Song didn’t feature on Tuesday, and has played just eight minutes of Barcelona’s UCL knock-out campaign. That works out at roughly £2 million per minute for anyone that’s interested. Ahead of Song in midfield, expect Thiago Alcântara to start his fifth successive La Liga match with Cesc Fàbregas in support.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">Moving onto the attack, Lionel Messi could feature, but really, who would advocate starting the Argentine after Tuesday night? He clearly needs recovery – or Bayern were even more effective than we first feared, which would be terrifying. Instead, why not shake things up a little and start with a "real" nine. I’ve heard it’s the latest tactical innovation, and it’s all the rage in countries like Germany for instance – maybe <a href="http://www.sbnation.com/soccer/fifa/players/110874/david-villa" class="sbn-auto-link">David Villa</a> could fill that role? Pedro and Cristian Tello could provide support from either flank, and if necessary, maybe Villa and Tello could switch places for certain periods? I’d certainly welcome the opportunity to see if Tello’s electrifying pace and clinical finishing could translate to a more traditional role as a striker...</p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><b>ATHLETIC BILBAO</b></p>
<p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><a href="http://www.sbnation.com/soccer/fifa/players/110871/fernando-llorente" class="sbn-auto-link">Fernando Llorente</a> made a rare starting appearance two weeks ago against Real Madrid, and he kept his place in the starting XI for last weekend’s draw against Deportivo La Coruna – scoring Bilbao’s only goal. Aritz Aduriz replaced the Juve-bound striker on 75 minutes only to hobble off in the 88<sup>th</sup> minute, seemingly injured. However, Aduriz has recovered and could start tomorrow. Ander Iturraspe misses out through suspension, but other than that, Bilbao are at full-strength.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><b>FORM GUIDE</b></p>
<p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">Barcelona: DWDWWL</p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">Athletic: WLWLLD</p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><b>LAST MEETING</b></p>
<p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">FC Barcelona 5-1 Athletic Bilbao – 1 December 2012 – La Liga</p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">Goals from Lionel Messi (2), Gerard Piqué, Adriano Correia and Cesc Fàbregas secured an emphatic 5-1 home win for the Blaugrana, which was also their sixth successive victory in all competitions.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"> <b>LIKELY LINE-UPS</b></p>
<p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">Barcelona (4-3-3): Valdés; Alves, Abidal, Bartra, Adriano; Song, Thiago, Fàbregas; Pedro, Villa, Tello</p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">Athletic Bilbao (4-3-3): Iraizoz; Iraola, San Jose, Ekiza, Aurtenetxe; Gurpegi, De Marcos, Ander; Susaeta, Muniain, Llorente</p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><b>MATCH PREDICTION</b></p>
<p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">A trip to San Mames is tough at the best of times, but with Athletic still not technically safe from the drop, it’s surely going to be that little bit tougher for Barça to secure the three points. I’d still back Barça to win, but it’s going to be a tight affair; maybe 2-1 Barça.</p>
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https://www.barcablaugranes.com/2013/4/26/4271686/la-liga-athletic-bilbao-vs-fc-barcelona-match-previewArron Duckling