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Barcelona salvaged a 1-1 draw against Athletic Club with a rather uninspiring performance on Saturday. A litany of injuries and the massive hole left behind with the departure of Lionel Messi had Barcelona looking like a shell of its former self.
The injuries for Barcelona include:
- Ansu Fati
- Dembele
- Aguero
- Coutinho
- Ter Stegen
Things only got worse for Barcelona when Gerard Pique was forced to leave the game early in the first half with an injury.
The mood was already down for Barcelona after Martin Braithwaite missed a golden chance in the sixth minute. The Dane scored a brace in Barcelona’s opener against Real Sociedad, but he forgot to put his shooting boots on against Athletic Club.
Braithwaite misses a wide open net. pic.twitter.com/7BmvFCIJm4
— ESPN FC (@ESPNFC) August 21, 2021
After that, a controversial call denied Barcelona from a bicycle kick goal right before half time.
Athletic Club looked the more dangerous side for large portions of the game while Barcelona appeared sloppy and disjointed throughout the 90 minutes. Iñigo Martínez finally made the Catalan club pay with a headed goal in the 50th minute.
Iñigo Martínez!
Barcelona trail Athletic Bilbao 1-0. pic.twitter.com/InX1sywu6B— ESPN FC (@ESPNFC) August 21, 2021
Barcelona started showing some life in the final 30 minutes. Frenkie de Jong rattled the crossbar in the 74th minute and then one minute later Memphis Depay found the equalizer.
I’m willing to bet that if someone took Depay’s shot directly to the face it would break every bone.
DEPAY'S FIRST GOAL FOR BARCA!
WHAT A RIP pic.twitter.com/q0MrIgaDec— ESPN FC (@ESPNFC) August 21, 2021
The shot was hit so hard it apparently left the ESPN announcers speechless.
Depay nearly found the game-winner in the 86th minute but the Dutch international skewed his shot wide.
Barcelona center back Eric García had a nightmare of a game and nearly gifted Athletic Club a goal in the 93rd minute after giving away possession. In a brilliant move, García brought down Bilbao’s Nico Williams outside of the box to save a potential goal. García was shown a red card but kept the score at 1-1. García was incredibly brave to play on Saturday as he learned his grandfather had passed away minutes before kick off.
As for the Catalan club, serious questions will be asked of Barcelona this season and performances like this simply won’t cut it.
How Did Sergiño Dest Do?
Depends on who you ask.
If you ask the Barcelona fans how Dest performed they will tell you how horrible he was on defense. On the flip side, USMNT fans will tell you about his production on offense and a dazzling run that he had to beat two Athletic Club players and get a shot on goal.
Saturday wasn’t his best showing. Too often he lost possession and got caught out in defense. Dest was substituted out of the game in the 82nd minute.
Thankfully this is only the second game of the season and there’s still time to improve.
Barcelona’s next game is on Aug. 29 against Getafe.
