Lionel Messi scored his 650th goal for Barcelona with a wonderful free-kick as they beat Athletic Bilbao to move up to second in La Liga.
Athletic had a five-man wall, a player lying behind the wall and another on the line but Messi still managed to curl the ball into the top corner – his 49th free-kick goal for the club.
Athletic were level when Jordi Alba turned a cross into his own net.
But Antoine Griezmann slammed in the winner from Oscar Mingueza’s pass.
Barcelona move above Real Madrid on goal difference, but the rivals both sit 10 points behind Atletico Madrid – who have a game in hand on both sides and who defeated Cadiz earlier in the day.
Ronald Koeman’s side seem to be over their dreadful start to the season with eight wins and two draws in their past 10 La Liga games.
Barcelona’s day ended better than it started, with the club denying leaking details of Messi’s contract to El Mundo.
The club plan legal action after the Spanish newspaper published details of his £492m contract.
Line-ups
Barcelona
Formation 4-2-3-1
- 1ter Stegen
- 28Mingueza
- 4Araujo
- 23Umtiti
- 18AlbaBooked at 50mins
- 8PjanicSubstituted forRobertoat 67′minutes
- 21de JongBooked at 47mins
- 11DembéléSubstituted forBraithwaiteat 87′minutes
- 16González
- 7GriezmannSubstituted forLengletat 84′minutes
- 10Messi
Substitutes
- 9Braithwaite
- 12Puig
- 13Murara Neto
- 15Lenglet
- 17Machado Trincão
- 19Fernandes Siqueira
- 20Roberto
- 24Firpo
- 27Kourouma Kourouma
- 29De la Fuente
- 36Tenas
Ath Bilbao
Formation 4-4-2
- 1Simón
- 21CapaBooked at 77minsSubstituted forLekueat 84′minutes
- 5ÁlvarezBooked at 39mins
- 4Martínez
- 17Berchiche
- 18De MarcosSubstituted forBerenguer Remiroat 67′minutes
- 14García Carrillo
- 27VencedorSubstituted forVesgaat 66′minutes
- 10Muniain
- 22GarcíaBooked at 32mins
- 9WilliamsSubstituted forVillalibreat 84′minutes
Substitutes
- 2Morcillo
- 3Núñez
- 6Vesga
- 7Gómez
- 8López
- 11Córdoba
- 12Berenguer Remiro
- 13Ezkieta
- 15Lekue
- 16Sancet
- 20Villalibre
- Referee:
- Antonio Miguel Mateu Lahoz
Live Text
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Match ends, Barcelona 2, Athletic Club 1.
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Second Half ends, Barcelona 2, Athletic Club 1.
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Attempt saved. Jordi Alba (Barcelona) left footed shot from the centre of the box is saved in the top centre of the goal. Assisted by Lionel Messi.
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Martin Braithwaite (Barcelona) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
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Foul by Íñigo Martínez (Athletic Club).
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Lionel Messi (Barcelona) wins a free kick on the right wing.
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Foul by Mikel Vesga (Athletic Club).
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Lionel Messi (Barcelona) wins a free kick on the right wing.
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Foul by Íñigo Lekue (Athletic Club).
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Attempt blocked. Yeray Álvarez (Athletic Club) right footed shot from the right side of the box is blocked. Assisted by Raúl García.
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Corner, Athletic Club. Conceded by Marc-André ter Stegen.
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Attempt saved. Raúl García (Athletic Club) right footed shot from outside the box is saved in the top centre of the goal. Assisted by Iker Muniain.
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Substitution, Barcelona. Martin Braithwaite replaces Ousmane Dembélé.
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Substitution, Barcelona. Clément Lenglet replaces Antoine Griezmann.
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Substitution, Athletic Club. Íñigo Lekue replaces Ander Capa.
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Substitution, Athletic Club. Asier Villalibre replaces Iñaki Williams.
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Antoine Griezmann (Barcelona) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
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Foul by Iker Muniain (Athletic Club).
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Corner, Athletic Club. Conceded by Ousmane Dembélé.
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Offside, Athletic Club. Raúl García tries a through ball, but Iñaki Williams is caught offside.
