It’s always worth watching when these two sides come together, although this one was rather sapped of life by Iraizoz’s early sending off, which led to Messi’s opener from the spot. Messi was replaced at half-time but Suárez and Neymar never let up, the former grabbing a hat-trick, the latter scoring one, setting up a couple and generally being quite brilliant.
So Barça stay two points behind Atlético, with one game in hand. What a game it promises to be when they meet in a couple of weeks. For now that’s it from me, thanks for reading.
Full-time: Barcelona 6-0 Athletic Bilbao
Barça’s biggest win of the season is complete.
90+2 mins: Here is how Suárez’s second goal, Barça’s fifth, came about. Lots of passing, basically.
En el quinto gol, @LuisSuarez9 ha recogido con el pecho un centro de Arda Turan y ha rematado con la pierna derecha pic.twitter.com/rBlf3S1SEU
— FC Barcelona (@FCBarcelona_es) January 17, 2016
89 mins: Iturraspe tries a free-kick from 30 yards. Why not. It’s comfortable for Bravo.
29 - Luis Suárez has scored more goals than any other player in the top five European leagues (all competitions). Monster.
— OptaJose (@OptaJose) January 17, 2016
87 mins: Vidal pounces on a loose ball in behind the Athletic defence and whips a cross towards Neymar, but it’s an inch or two too high for the Brazilian who would have had a simple point-blank header.
85 mins: Moments before that goal Neymar had dribbled wonderfully into the Athletic box before rolling his studs over the ball with his right foot to round the goalkeeper, but his left-footed finish wasn’t hit cleanly and allowed Herrerín to get back and make the save. Suárez has played well to get his hat-trick, but Neymar is in sizzling form.
GOAL! Barcelona 6-0 Athletic Bilbao (Suárez, 83 mins)
Busquets gets to the byline and dinks an inviting cross for Suárez who simply has to jump on the spot and direct his close-range header into the corner to seal his hat-trick.
81 mins: Barça have the ball and seem quite happy with it. Meanwhile...
Meanwhile in the Egyptian league. pic.twitter.com/GHjNtpFvC6
— Sunday League Footy (@SundayChants) January 17, 2016
79 mins: Barça have a free-kick 20 yards out when Neymar is chopped to ground. He gets to his feet and lines up a shot which tickles the roof of the net as it flies over.
77 mins: Iniesta tries a half-shot half-cross which Herrerín parries away.
74 mins: It’s hit straight at the wall. Sigh.
73 mins: Athletic have a free-kick! It’s 20 yards out!
72 mins: Barça can score almost as many as they would like to from here on in. Neymar is the latest to have a go, curling an effort from outside the box straight at Herrerín.
70 mins: Alba hobbles off and Marc Bartra replaces him.
GOAL! Barcelona 5-0 Athletic Bilbao (Suárez, 69 mins)
Arda Turan looks up and floats a cross towards the far post for Suárez who is given far too much time, but still needs a quality piece of chest control to put himself in on goal before poking home with the outside of his right foot.
66 mins: Jordi Alba sprints for a ball down the left and stretches to keep it in play. He fails to do s,o and it’s a double blow as he reaches for his hamstring and signals to the bench that his day is done.
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64 mins: Rakitic is replaced by Sergi Roberto.
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GOAL! Barcelona 4-0 Athletic Bilbao (Rakitic, 62 mins)
Well this is just silly. Neymar decides to turn it on, first leaving poor old Bóveda on the floor with a sudden turn of pace on the left touchline, before dribbling brilliantly in and up to the byline past a couple of admiring Athletic defenders and passing back for Rakitic to tap between Herrerín’s legs.
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61 mins: Vidal’s cross hits Balenziaga in the throat and he’s down but not out; the defender is OK to continue. Apparently Messi was not injured, just brought off for a rare rest.
58 mins: Rakitic tries to find Vidal but his pass is overhit and it runs out for a goal-kick.
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55 mins: The game is understandably lacking urgency right now. Barcelona continue to probe but at the sort of tempo which suggests they want to expend not a jot more energy than they have to. Williams is brought off and Sabin Merino comes on.
52 mins: A lovely move sees Barça work the ball to Neymar on the left who cuts the ball back to Suárez, but he’s tackled just as he looked to pull the trigger.
50 mins: Athletic are pinned back on the edge of their box but manage to pinch the ball and break downfield through Williams. The striker is brought down by Mascherano who is quite harshly booked.
GOAL! Barcelona 3-0 Athletic Bilbao (Suárez, 47 mins)
Neymar and Suárez work a lovely two-two on the edge of the box and when Neymar feeds his team-mate in behind the Athletic defence, Suárez sweeps the ball first time under Herrerín and into the net.
Peeep! We are back under way and Barcelona have made a change. Arda Turan, who has pretty much been a season-ticket holder so far this season, comes on replacing Lionel Messi to spoil everyone’s fun.
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Half-time stat:
31 - Neymar has had a hand in 31 goals in his 24 appearances for @FCBarcelona this season (19 goals, 12 assists, all comps). Samba.
— OptaJose (@OptaJose) January 17, 2016
Here is Leo before the match giving his golden ball a showing. As my colleague Ben Fisher points out, #Messi5 probably isn’t going to catch on.
Messi offers the Ballon d’Or to the FC Barcelona supporters at Camp Nou #Messi5 #CampNou https://t.co/FOpnpI39ZW
— FC Barcelona (@FCBarcelona) January 17, 2016
Half-time: Barcelona 2-0 Athletic Bilbao
Bilbao finish on the attack but can’t make a chance and that’s the half. Messi’s penalty and Neymar’s wonderfully chipped finish are the difference – as well as Barça’s extra man courtesy of Iraizoz’s early red card.
45+1 mins: That bit of Neymar bamboozling might have got to Bóveda; he has time to clear Rakitic’s cross but instead panics and slams it behind for a corner. Nothing comes of the set piece.
44 mins: Neymar shows another flash of his dribbling powers, offering Bóveda the ball before sweeping it away from under the defender’s nose a fraction of a second later, but he’s closed down before getting a shot away. Athletic need a break.
42 mins: Messi is tripped by one of the four red and white shirts buzzing around him. The free-kick is right in the middle of the goal, 25 yards out, and pretty much on its knees begging to be hit. Messi obliges but his effort bends just wide of the left post.
39 mins: Messi and Suárez work a crafty one-two on the edge of the box but the Uruguayan’s shot doesn’t match the quality of the buildup, sailing high and wide.
36 mins: Neymar suddenly cranks up the tempo, sprinting down the left and whipping a low cross for Messi who volleys over the bar when he might have done better. Messi follows it up with a sumptuous pass to Vidal down the right wing through the tiniest of gaps, but the assistant is on a different wavelength and wrongly flags for offside.
34 mins: Pass, pass, pass. It’s a game of keep ball, and Barcelona are winning.
GOAL! Barcelona 2-0 Athletic Bilbao (Neymar, 31 mins)
Athletic have the temerity to attack and immediately regret it. Barça pinch the ball and break with Suárez feeding Neymar on the left, who sprints through on goal and dinks Herrerín deliciously.
29 mins: Vidal pounces on a loose ball on the edge of the Athletic box and cracks one towards the top corner but is zips just over Herrerín’s crossbar. Not far away from the right-back’s first Barça goal, who is playing more as right winger right now.
27 mins: The Camp Nou has gone a little flat again. Rakitic gets them off their seats for a moment with a well-weighted cross for Neymar arriving at the back post, but his half-volley is a tricky one and it flies high into the crowd.
25 mins: Iñaki Williams slides a clever throughball with the outside of his boot but De Marcos is offside. Williams, by the way, has already racked up ten goals this season including this little number against Espanyol:
22 mins: Athletic have set up camp on the edge of their own box with two lines of four, and Iñaki Williams up on his own. They are doing well until a slack clearance finds Neymar who weaves into the area leaving a couple of defenders on the ground, before San José makes a crucial last-ditch block. A moment later Neymar tees up Rakitic but the Croatian fires and ambitious volley over the bar.
19 mins: Messi and Suárez work together in very tight space on the edge of the box to fashion a chance for Neymar bursting ahead of them, but his shot is deflected wide and Bilbao head clear the subsequent corner.
17 mins: The Camp Nou is almost stunned as De Marcos sprints on to a measured forward pass and races in on goal, but Bravo comes out and slides through both ball and man to stop the shot.
15 mins: A beautiful volleyed lay-off by Rakitic finds Suárez on the edge of the box but the forward’s curling effort bends over the crossbar.
16 - Lionel Messi has been involved in 16 goals in his last 11 appearances against Athletic in La Liga (10 goals and 6 assists). Infallible.
— OptaJose (@OptaJose) January 17, 2016
13 mins: Barça have near-total dominance of the ball as you might expect with a one-man advantage but they haven’t been able to carve out a decent chance since the penalty. The Camp Nou is fairly quiet, as if waiting to be entertained. Neymar almost delivers with a burst down the left but his cross aimed at Suárez is cut out.
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10 mins: Looking back, the penalty and red card decision was the right one as Suárez got to the high throughball over the Athletic defence just before Iraizoz and was taken out when he almost certainly would have scored, although it is obviously a huge price for Athletic to pay. These two don’t do uneventful.
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GOAL! Barcelona 1-0 Athletic Bilbao (Messi pen, 7 mins)
It takes a little while for Herrerín, the substitute goalkeeper, to get ready but eventually he jogs on and Muniain is the unfortunate player to be sacrificed. Messi steps up and fires the ball low to the goalkeeper’s left, and Barça are in front.
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RED CARD! (Iraizoz, 4 mins)
The Athletic goalkeeper rushes out, wipes out Suárez on the edge of the box without a sniff of the ball, and he’s off! And to compound matters, Lahoz points to the spot.
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2 mins: Gerard Piqué stitches up Cladio Bravo with a backpass right into the path of Muniain but Barça get back to clear their lines just in time.
Peeeeep! Antonio Lahoz blows his whistle and Athletic, in traditional red and white stripes, get the game under way. An early dose of pedantry:
@guardian_sport @LawrenceOstlere athletic's correct name is athletic club or athletic bilbao if you must. but never just bilbao.
— Jack Tanner (@mrjacktanner) January 17, 2016
Before kick-off there is just time for Messi to show off his fifth Ballon d’Or to the Camp Nou crowd. He has a big grin on his face and looks very relaxed. Athletic Bilbao should be worried.
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The players head out of the tunnel and are just about ready to go on a chilly evening in Barcelona. Fun fact: there is a doorway halfway up the steps of the Camp Nou tunnel leading to a tiny chapel. OK, not that fun, but it is a fact.
Pre-match entertainment: Mikel San José’s screamer in the Spanish Super Cup.
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With Barcelona to come in a couple of weeks Atlético are peaking at just the right time. By the sound of tonight’s match Messi, Neymar and Suárez are in for the typically combative Simeone experience:
Wow, that's a stat. Fouls committed: Las Palmas 4, Atletico 20.
— Sid Lowe (@sidlowe) January 17, 2016
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Over in Gran Canaria, Antoine Griezman has just jogged through a cavernous hole in the centre of the Las Palmas defence to score his second of the evening and put Atlético 3-0 up. A moment later the referee blows his whistle to confirm a result that keeps Diego Simeone’s side four points clear of Real Madrid at the top of La Liga. Barça are a further point behind Real but have played two games fewer than the Madrid clubs above them.
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Line-ups
Barcelona: Bravo, Vidal, Piqué, Mascherano, Alba, Busquets, Iniesta, Rakitic, Messi, Neymar, Suárez
Subs: Ter Stegen, Alves, Bartra, Vermaelen, Sergi Roberto, Arda, Munir
Athletic Bilbao: Iraizoz, Bóveda, Laporte, Etxeita, Balenziaga, Eraso, San José, Beñat, De Marcos, Muniain, Williams
Subs: Herrerín, Iturraspe, Susaeta, Mikel Rico, Gurpegi, Lekue, Sabin
Referee: Antonio Mateu Lahoz
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Preamble
Barça and Bilbao have plenty of recent history. The two clubs’ crossed paths enough in 2015 for their own mini World Series made up of wonderful goals, bad-tempered red cards and memorable finals. Here’s how it played out:
Game One 8 February, Bilbao 2-5 Barcelona. Lionel Messi is at his brilliant best with a hand in all five Barça goals as the visitors win the La Liga tie. Xabier Etxeita is sent off for a nasty tackle on Luis Suárez.
Game Two 30 May, Bilbao 1-3 Barcelona. One of the great Messi goals – a brilliant dribble from the halfway line past four defenders and a powerful finish inside the near post – helps to seal Barça’s Copa del Rey triumph.
Game Three 14 August, Bilbao 4-0 Barcelona. Mikel San José’s breathtaking 50-yard goal and a Aritz Aduriz hat-trick stun Barça with a rare thrashing in the Spanish Super Cup first leg at San Mamés.
Game Four 17 August, Barcelona 1-1 Bilbao. Gerard Piqué is shown a straight red card for screaming in an assistant referee’s face. Aduriz scores again as Bilbao see out the second leg to win the Super Cup.
Game Five 23 August, Bilbao 0-1 Barcelona. A week after losing the Super Cup, Suárez’s wonderfully taken volley settles their La Liga opener.
Bilbao come to the Camp Nou for their first meeting of 2016 following a couple of disappointing results which leave Ernesto Valverde’s side eighth in La Liga, while Barça mixed two 4-0 wins with three draws in their past five games. But if we’ve learnt anything from their recent battles it is that regardless of the form book, pretty much anything could happen tonight between Barcelona and Athletic Bilbao. All we really know is that it definitely won’t be dull.
Kick-off: 7:30pm GMT
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