Bilbao: Memphis Depay scored his first goal for Barcelona as the Catalan giants walked away with one point from San Mames against Athletic Club on Sunday in La Liga. The match ended 1-1, halting Barcelona’s winning start in the league.
For the second game running, the visitors found themselves in trouble. Athletic made it difficult for the Catalans from the very first minute with physical and fast football as the back of four of Ronald Koeman’s side found themselves in trouble quite a number of times.
Inaki Williams was a huge threat to Barcelona during the counter-attacks and even had a few dangerous chances to put his team in front. A floppy show from Neto almost had Barça on the brink of conceding only to be stopped by a superb block from Frenkie de Jong, who was clearly the best man for Barcelona.
The Catalans had a chance to take the lead when a goal by Ronald Araujo was cancelled just moments before halftime. However, it was Athletic Club who took the lead five minutes into the second half when Inigo Martinez headed a ball past the Barcelona goalkeeper Neto.
Sergi Roberto, coming in as a substitute, assisted Depay on 75 minutes, who finished off a rising volley to level the score. Things turned for bad at the Catalan half when Eric Garcia, received a red card during the dying minutes of the game.
“I don’t always like to talk about the same things, but we’re talking about the best player in the world. The opposition have more fear if Messi’s playing. It’s also (important) for us because if you give Leo the ball, he doesn’t lose it. You notice he’s not there, but we can’t change that,” Koeman stated after the gane.
“It’s true that we learned before the game about [Garcia’s] grandad dying. He’s a great professional and despite that he wanted to play. It’s a shame about losing the ball and (the sending off) in the last minute. I think it’s a second yellow, but we’re happy with him and wish him the best in his personal situation,” the Dutchman said of Garcia.
