A hat trick for Luis Suarez on Lionel Messi’s special day after winning his record fifth Ballon D’Or took all the spotlight during 90 minutes of fantastic football from the defending league, European and world club champions as they scored six on Athletic Bilbao.
What they needed
In the first half, FC Barcelona were clearly dominant with 63% possession of the ball as well as 13 shots compared to the four the defending Supercopa de España had in the first 45 minutes.
It all went well for the away side as they had the first big chance of the match. Eraso with the first big chance for the away side after goalkeeper Claudio Bravo went out of his net leaving it open as the midfielder’s chance went wide of Chilean’s goal.
Two minutes later, Barcelona were awarded a penalty in which Gorka Iraizoz took down Luis Suarez on the inside of the box. Antonio Mateu was not serene with such a thing and the vice-captain was sent off, allowing Iago Herrerín to come in. After all that and with Bilbao playing with 10 men, Lionel Messi, who played his first La Liga since winning the FIFA Ballon D’Or for the fifth time in his career just six days before, scored from the spot kick past Herrerín on the right to give the Blaugrana the lead.
Barcelona continued the superiority within the first half with various chances happening inside the 15th minute from the Uruguayan on the right, only for his shot to go wide and out. Neymar also created various chances throughout the first half. In the 22nd minute the Brazilian winger was able to beat the Bilbao defence from which his shot was saved by Herrerín, only for the ball to be given to Messi, in which he played the ball to Suarez as the striker chipped the ball, only for it to go up and wide as well.
The hosts doubled their lead inside a half hour from Neymar. Suarez was able to play the ball as he came from the right in which the pacy Brazilian came on the left to cooly finish past the Bilbao goalkeeper. A dominant first half for the side from the Camp Nou.
A walk in the park
In the second half, Barcelona continue their dominance but not before some chances coming from the away side who once beat the defending European champions for the Spainish Supercup only five months ago. Eraso again with a chance in the 61st minute but only his shot going wide of Claudio Bravo’s goal and off a free kick in which Óscar de Marcos’ shot went wide in the 73rd minute. A bit of a scare happened when Jordi Alba was subbed out for Marc Bartra following a possible hamstring pull when going in for a challenge.
The goals continued on and on for the home side on a special day for Lionel Messi, who was taken off before the start of the second half for Arda Turan as a precaution. In the 47th minute, Suarez scored his first goal of the night. Following some good build up play with him and Neymar, the Brazilian was able to play the ball right to the Uruguayan to score easily. The rout of the Basque Country side continued when Ivan Rakitic made it four inside 62 minutes. An amazing run and beautiful rhythm from Neymar to go over the Bilbao defenders gave him the ability to play the ball to the Croatian midfielder to finish cooly.
The Luis Suarez show continued when in the 68th minute, Turan played ball on the right, allowing Lucho to control the ball with his chest, finish off his shot with a volley and into the back to the net making him the top goalscorer in La Liga. He completed his hat trick in the 83rd minute when off a cross from Sergio Busquets, the striker headed the ball in to complete a 6-0 rout and give all three points to Barcelona.
In the end, Barcelona get the three points to continue being second in the league with 45 points, only behind Atletico Madrid, who also won today and have 47 points, but with a game in hand due to the Club World Cup campaign. They will take on Bilbao again on Wednesday in the first leg of the Copa Del Rey quarterfinals in Basque territory before traveling to face Malaga on Saturday. Athletic Bilbao on the other hand are ninth in the league with 28 points, still looking for a spot in the European competitions by the end of the season, will play Eibar next Sunday.