Barcelona stay third after draw at Athletic Bilbao

Athletic Bilbao 0-0 Barcelona: Stalemate denies visitors chance to climb to second in La LigaBy Bobbie JacksonBBC Sport

Last updated on 3 March 2024.From the section European Football

Barcelona are yet to lose away from home in La Liga this season, winning seven and drawing sixBarcelona failed to capitalise on results elsewhere in La Liga after a goalless draw at Athletic Bilbao which means they stay third in the table.

The Basque side dug in from the outset with a well-organised defensive unit, looking to play on the counter.

Joao Cancelo went closest to scoring for Barca but his 40-yard effort was cleared off the line by Yeray Alvarez.

With second-placed Girona losing at Mallorca, a win for Barcelona would have seen them move up to second.

Athletic’s gameplan worked to a point, denying Barcelona clear openings, but they were unable to pose any serious threat when they did get the opportunity to break.

Portugal full-back Cancelo was inches away from putting the visitors in front midway through the first half when he met Unai Simon’s clearance first time from just inside the hosts’ half.

The goalkeeper managed to backtrack to get a hand on the effort and Alvarez then desperately hooked the ball off the line.

The pattern of play remained the same in the second half with both teams building neatly up the field but struggling to execute the right pass in the final third.

With the second leg of their Champions League last-16 tie to come against Napoli on 12 March, Barcelona boss Xavi will not have been pleased to have seen Frenkie de Jong and Pedri both leave the field with injuries, the latter reduced to tears when he took his place on the bench.

Real Madrid’s 2-2 draw at Valencia on Saturday offered Barcelona hope of cutting the gap at the top to just six points.

The draw does no favours for either side with Barcelona staying third and eight adrift of Real. Fifth-placed Athletic Bilbao have dropped further off the pace of the top four as they sit five points behind Atletico Madrid, who beat Real Betis 2-1 earlier in the day.

Line-upsAth BilbaoFormation 4-2-3-1

1Simón24PradosSubstituted forDe Marcosat 80’minutes5Álvarez4Paredes19García de AlbénizBooked at 65mins14García CarrilloBooked at 52mins6VesgaSubstituted forRuíz de Galarretaat 63’minutes9WilliamsSubstituted forAres Djalóat 76’minutes30GómezSubstituted forSancetat 64’minutes7BerenguerBooked at 86mins12GuruzetaSubstituted forVillalibreat 76’minutesSubstitutes8Sancet10Muniain13Agirrezabala15Lekue16Ruíz de Galarreta18De Marcos20Villalibre22García23Ares Djaló27Egiluz31Jauregizar32RincónBarcelonaFormation 4-3-3

1ter Stegen23KoundéBooked at 88mins33CubarsíSubstituted forMartínezat 76’minutes4AraújoBooked at 32mins2Cancelo22Gündogan15ChristensenBooked at 62minsSubstituted forRomeuat 76’minutes21F de JongSubstituted forLópezat 26’minutes11RaphinhaSubstituted forJoão Félixat 76’minutes9Lewandowski8PedriSubstituted forYamalat 45’minutesSubstitutes5Martínez13Peña Sotorres14João Félix16López18Romeu19Roque Ferreira20Roberto27Yamal31Kochen38Guiu39FortReferee:Alejandro José Hernández Hernández

Attendance:50,295

Match StatsLive TextMatch ends, Athletic Club 0, Barcelona 0.

Second Half ends, Athletic Club 0, Barcelona 0.

Offside, Athletic Club. Asier Villalibre is caught offside.

Attempt missed. Dani García (Athletic Club) header from the centre of the box is close, but misses to the right. Assisted by Alex Berenguer with a cross following a corner.

Corner, Athletic Club. Conceded by Jules Koundé.

Jules Koundé (Barcelona) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.

Foul by Jules Koundé (Barcelona).

Asier Villalibre (Athletic Club) wins a free kick in the defensive half.

Alex Berenguer (Athletic Club) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.

Lamine Yamal (Barcelona) wins a free kick on the right wing.

Foul by Alex Berenguer (Athletic Club).

Foul by João Cancelo (Barcelona).

Oihan Sancet (Athletic Club) wins a free kick in the attacking half.

Oriol Romeu (Barcelona) wins a free kick in the defensive half.

Foul by Alex Berenguer (Athletic Club).

Attempt blocked. João Félix (Barcelona) right footed shot from outside the box is blocked. Assisted by Robert Lewandowski.

Substitution, Athletic Club. Óscar De Marcos replaces Beñat Prados.

João Félix (Barcelona) wins a free kick in the attacking half.

Foul by Yeray Álvarez (Athletic Club).

Corner, Barcelona. Conceded by Yeray Álvarez.

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