Ivan Rakitic winner gives Barcelona title race advantage again

Ivan Rakitic came off the bench to score a winner for Barcelona against Athletic Club as the Catalans went top of La Liga again, albeit in unconvincing fashion.

This result will put the pressure back on Real Madrid who must now beat Real Mallorca on Wednesday night to leapfrog their Catalan rivals again and reclaim the advantage in the Spanish title race.

The hosts struggled to create much for the majority of the match, with Antoine Griezmann spurning an opportunity after 56 minutes when Unai Simon came off his line to thwart the Frenchman who was made in the Barca lineup.

Rakitic struck what proved to be the winner 19 minutes from the end, continuing his run into the box to pick the ball off the toes of Lionel Messi and sweep a right-footed shot into the far corner of the Athletic net.

Messi himself and Luis Suarez were presented with chances to double Barcelona’s lead, while Raul Garcia passed up a golden opportunity to snatch a point, missing a header after Gerard Pique and Marc-Andre Ter Stegen both missed a cross into the box.

Messi, Arturo Vidal, Pique, Jordi Alba, Sergio Busquets… they all looked weary for Barcelona this evening. That was perhaps understandable given how the Catalans have had to play three games in under a week since the resumption of the Spanish Liga season, but contrast this to how Real Madrid have managed to keep fresh throughout their fixtures. Will squad death decide the title race in these unique circumstances?

This was far from a vintage Barcelona performance with a number of their key performers off the pace, but the match changed when Riqui Puig was introduced off the bench in the second half. Much is expected of the young midfielder at the Camp Nou and it was easy to see why on this basis. He was a bright spark in an otherwise dull performance. Puig has surely done enough to ensure a start in Barca’s next game against Celta Vigo this weekend.

Barcelona - Ter Stegen 6, Semedo 5, Pique 5, Lenglet 5, Alba 6, Arthur 5, Busquets 7, Vidal 5, Messi 5, Suarez 5, Griezmann 5. Subs - Braithwaite 4, Ansu 7, Puig 7, Rakitic 7.

Athletic Club - Simon 7, De Marcos 6, Nunez 6, Yeray 6, Balenziaga 6, Lopez 7, Vesga 5, Lekue 7, Sancet 7, Cordoba 5, Williams 6. Subs - Capa 5, D.Garcia 5, R.Garcia 4, Muniain 3, Villalibre 5.

26’ Great chance for Athletic! Lopez whipped an excellent delivery into the Barcelona box with Yeray losing his marker at the back post, but he heads over when he should have hit the target, at least!

56’ Griezmann was through! That was the first real scoring chance of the second half, with Messi clipping the pass out to Griezmann, but Simon came off his line to smother the Frenchman's shot!

71’ GOAL! Barcelona 1-0 Athletic Club: At long last, the deadlock has been broken and Barcelona have the lead! The pass was played into Messi, the ball then ran nicely into the run of Rakitic who swept a right-footed finish into the far corner of the net! That's a huge goal for Barca!

72’ Suarez over the bar! Barcelona have consolidated their opener with a good period of pressure in the opposition half, but Suarez's shot picks up a deflection and spins over the crossbar.

82’ MESSI... wide! That should have been Barcelona's second goal! How many times have we seen Messi skip past one and then two before curling a left-footed shot into the far corner, but he shoots wide this time!

83’ What a chance! The cross was whipped into the Barcelona penalty area, both Pique and Ter Stegen missed it, Garcia was making the run behind him, but he was caught by surprise and heads wide! What an opportunity!

Barcelona have failed to score in the first half in five of their last seven games.

Lionel Messi has won more points with his assists than any other player in La Liga this season (15 points, 15 assists).

Marc-Andre Ter Stegen has now kept five clean sheets in a row in La Liga.