flywoman

Barcelona was actually awarded a PK for once. And Leo converted it!

Although the final score was not as impressive as it could have been, yesterday's game against Athletic Bilbao was the most thrilling I'd seen in a long time. Barcelona was playing beautiful attacking soccer, with players from every position trying to get in on the goal action. Thiago Alcantara had a prodigious passing game in Xavi's absence and even scored a goal off Leo Messi's assist but unfortunately was caught just offside. And in addition to being a badass defender, Gerard Pique nearly got a goal off a corner kick from Messi, but it was deflected by a Bilbao player jumping between the posts at the last second. (Pique later returned the favor by sliding to keep a ball that had escaped Victor Valdes out of his own goal.) Messi finally succeeded in assisting the first goal, by Andres Iniesta, a perfect high shot that nearly broke the top of the net. Cristian Tello didn't succeed in scoring off an assist to Pique or with his own shot on target, but he did draw the foul in the box that gave Barcelona a PK - only their third this year if I recall correctly - which Messi converted into a second goal. He also nearly scored an accidental goal with his shoulder off Iniesta's slightly misjudged shot, lol.

For their part, Athletic Bilbao created very few chances other than the aforementioned attempt that was saved by Pique. They were probably still tired from their win against Schalke only two days before. Should be an interesting rematch for the Copa del Rey final! In the meantime, I hope that we see something like this level of energy when we play AC Milan again on Tuesday!