Inaki Williams burns Balde around the outside before sending a wayward cross over the top to Yuri. He passes inside to Nico Williams, who drives from 20 yards and curls a right-footed effort high and wide of the far corner!
90' +4
Ángel Alarcón enters the game and replaces Gavi.
Gavi heads off the field as Barca try to run the clock down, as Angel Alarcon enters the fray for the last few minutes.
90' +1
We're into SEVEN added minutes to close out this game, in which Bilbao will be even more determined to find the equalising goal they feel robbed of!
86'
Oier Zarraga gets yellow.
Gavi twists and turns away from Zarraga, but is pulled to the deck by his shirt and the Bilbao substitute is shown the yellow card!
85'
Kessie picks out Fati in Bilbao's box, but Martinez slides across to block the ball behind for the corner as the substitute pulls the trigger!
84'
Gorka Guruzeta enters the game and replaces Álex Berenguer.
Capa enters the game and replaces De Marcos.
Berenguer has been Athletic's best in the middle of the park, but he comes off now for Gorka Guruzeta to provide attacking reinforcements.
Bilbao captain De Marcos is withdrawn late, and Ander Capa comes on at right-back.
Lewandowski latches onto a long ball and cuts onto his stronger right foot in the box, but Martinez blocks his path to shoot and Vivian dispossesses the striker!
83'
Marcos Alonso enters the game and replaces Raphinha.
Ansu Fati enters the game and replaces Sergi Roberto.
Barcelona make further changes, with the first seeing Raphinha replaced by Marcos Alonso.
With one winger off for a full-back, Barca bring off a full-back for a winger, as Ansu Fati replaces the booked Roberto.
82'
Berenguer is bowled over by Balde on the edge of the box, but Nico Williams' attempt from the free-kick is driven straight into the Blaugrana's wall!
81'
De Marcos fizzes a cross into the area which Berenguer attacks at the far post, but Roberto does just enough to get there first and glance the ball away from danger!
Minute
Description
77'
Berenguer drills his free-kick straight into the two-man wall of Barca, but his attempted volley back into the box is also cleared by the Blaugrana defence.
76'
Sergi Roberto gets yellow.
Kounde is caught out on the edge of his own box and Muniain picks his pocket, but the Bilbao substitute is dragged back by Roberto, who is immediately shown a yellow card for the foul!
74'
Lewandowski attempts to hold the ball up in midfield for Barca, but Vivian is all over him and drags the striker to the floor, conceding a free-kick in the process.
73'
The Bilbao corner is cleared and Raphinha races clear on the break for Barca. He's caught up only by red-and-white shirts, and surrounded by three defenders, is eventually dispossessed in the opposite corner.
70'
Yuri enters the game and replaces Balenziaga.
Balenziaga comes off in Bilbao's latest change, and Yuri Berchiche, who wasn't deemed fit enough to start from the off, slots in at left-back.
68'
F. Kessié enters the game and replaces Ferran Torres.
Raphinha's corner is caught by Bilbao 'keeper Agirrezabala, who immediately throws the ball out to Nico Williams on the break. He has few options ahead of him, and by the time he can pick a pass, Barca are back in numbers and recover possession.
Torres comes off in Barca's first change of the game, and Franck Kessie's introduction in midfield will likely see Gavi push forward into the left-wing role.
67'
Roberto drifts in-field on a forward run and finds Gavi outside him, with the teenager's cross put behind for a corner by Martinez.
64'
Oier Zarraga enters the game and replaces Mikel Vesga.
Muniain enters the game and replaces Raúl García.
Raul Garcia also comes off, with Iker Muniain slotting into the Athletic front four.
Athletic make their first changes, as Vesga is replaced in midfield by Oier Zarraga.
63'
Lewandowski frees up Balde to cross from the left, and the full-back's drilled ball flashes across the face before flying behind for a goal kick!
62'
Torres drives forward for Barca but an attempted flick pass is cut out by Martinez. Lewandowski wins possession on the edge of the box and tries his luck, but can only send the ball sailing over the bar!
60'
Barca turn possession over in midfield and Gavi glides into open pasture. He finds Balde arriving at the far post, but De Marcos is all over the left-back before he can release a shot.
57'
Inaki Williams looks for his brother at the far post as he crosses from the left channel, but Ter Stegen rises above Nico to easily catch the cross.
55'
The De Jong free-kick results in a collision between Christensen and Agirrezabala, with Athletic centre-back Vivian caught between the two. He's stayed down inside the box, and play is delayed until the defender can get back to his feet and play on.
54'
Gavi steps beyond Berenguer before being flattened by Raul Garcia, and the teenager wins Barca a free-kick which De Jong will cross into the box.
49'
Nico Williams spots Ter Stegen far from his near post, and from almost the touchline, drills a low attempt goalwards which is whipped right into the side netting! That would've been some goal from the youngster!
48'
Balde drives forward from left-back and takes on Martinez down the left-hand byline, but the Bilbao defender forces him wide and the ball goes out for a goal kick.
46'
Barcelona get us back underway, with the second 45 minutes off and running at San Mames!
45' +4
HALF-TIME: ATHLETIC BILBAO 0-1 BARCELONA.
45' +1
Raphinha has scored a goal for Barcelona! Assist by Sergio Busquets.
A fantastic ball from Busquets, and Raphinha's finish was superbly rifled through the crowd and into the bottom corner!
GOOOOAAALLL!!! Barca open the scoring right on half-time!! Raphinha's attempted cross into the area is headed clear, but Busquets recovers it, and he finds the Brazilian in open space to lash the ball into the far corner of the net!!! There's a big question of offside with the goal not given initially, but VAR finds that the linesman flagged for the offside Torres instead. Raphinha is behind the last defender, and there's nothing wrong with the finish either, meaning it's 1-0 to Barcelona!
45'
We'll play an additional minute of added time in the first half at San Mames.
44'
Bilbao win a corner via a Roberto deflection, but it's headed clear by Busquets. A cross-field ball towards Nico Williams is won by Balde, who is fouled by the Athletic forward to relieve some of the pressure on Barca.
43'
Lewandowski tries to create space to shoot from the edge of the box, but he's dispossessed by Berenguer, who subsequently gets a push in the back from Busquets and wins a free-kick.
41'
Raphinha chips a cross from the right towards Lewandowski at the far post, but De Marcos makes first contact to take the ball away from the Blaugrana striker. Lewandowski recovers it and tries to shoot, but the back ricochets behind for a goal kick!
40'
Raphinha and Torres look to play a one-two on the edge of the box, but Raphinha's run for the return ball is blocked and Bilbao 'keeper Agirrezabala collects.
39'
Inaki Williams chases another long pass into the Barcelona half, but Kounde is more composed on this occasion and calmly heads back to Ter Stegen.
36'
Roberto's cross from the right is aimed towards Lewandowski, but it's too high for the striker to connect with and goes out for a throw on the opposite side of the pitch!
30'
I. Williams gets yellow.
Inaki Williams chases another long pass which is cut out by Kounde; however the striker drags him to the floor and is shown the game's first yellow card!
28'
Nico Williams takes on Roberto and skins him for pace down the left, but Kounde slides in to knock the ball loose with Roberto recovering to prevent the corner!
21'
Raphinha wins a free-kick which is crossed into the area, but Bilbao head it clear. Balde recovers the ball and finds Christensen with a good delivery into the box, but the defender can only put his header wide of the far post!
19'
Christensen and Raul Garcia have a coming-together in midfield and the Bilbao midfielder has stayed down, with play drawing to a halt before Garcia is cleared to continue a few moments later.
13'
Barca attempt to play their way out of trouble but are forced back by Bilbao, and Nico Williams wins possession. He passes wide for Raul Garcia to cross, but he's caught late by Balde after being flagged for offside!
7'
Raul Garcia presses a hurried Christensen back towards his own goal, and the Dane releases a wild back-pass which Ter Stegen has to clear quickly to prevent conceding a corner!
6'
Another long ball forward finds the outlet of Inaki Williams up top, who passes inside from the left to his brother Nico. Williams cuts inside and rifles a shot towards goal, but sends the ball a mile over from the edge of the box!
5'
Inaki Williams attempts successive crosses from the left side of the area, but both are easily caught and held by Ter Stegen between the sticks for the Blaugrana.
4'
Nico Williams tries to find crossing space down the left for Bilbao, but Roberto and Busquets crowd him out with the former winning the ball back.
1'
Inaki Williams kicks the game off for Athletic, and we are up and running in Bilbao!
De Marcos clips an early cross for Berenguer to attack in the box, but the Bilbao midfielder is forced off it by Gavi and the ball goes behind for a corner.
Hello, and welcome to live coverage of this fixture in La Liga, as Atheltic Bilbao face Barcelona at the San Mames.
Athletic currently sit ninth in the table on 33 points, and have the chance to climb to seventh with a win in this game. However, they’re winless in their last three games, with a 0-0 draw at Rayo Vallecano last time out ending a two-game losing streak against Atletico Madrid and Girona.
BARCELONA SUBS: Inaki Pena, Arnau Tenas, Ansu Fati, Marcos Alonso, Jordi Alba, Franck Kessie, Eric Garcia, Pablo Torre, Angel Alarcon.
BARCELONA (4-3-3): Marc-Andre ter Stegen; Sergi Roberto, Jules Kounde, Andreas Christensen, Alejandro Balde; Frenkie de Jong, Sergio Busquets, Gavi; Raphinha, Robert Lewandowski, Ferran Torres.
ATHLETIC BILBAO (4-2-3-1): Julen Agirrezabala; Oscar De Marcos, Dani Vivian, Inigo Martinez, Mikel Balenziaga; Dani Garcia, Mikel Vesga; Nico Williams, Raul Garcia, Alex Berenguer; Inaki Williams.
The teams head out into an electric San Mames atmosphere, and we're almost ready to go in northern Spain!
We're back for the second half, and can the hosts build on their positive first-half chances to turn this scoreline around?
Denied a late point thanks to VAR's intervention, Bilbao remain ninth, with the three sides directly below all within one win of overtaking them. At the top of the table though sit Barcelona, now nine points clear of Real Madrid. with El Clasico on the horizon in less than a week's time. However, the Blaugrana will need to significantly raise their game if they're to keep their biggest rivals at bay, with their performance at San Mames leaving a lot to be desired despite their slender victory.
That's all from us, we hope you enjoyed the game. Until next time, goodbye!
Barca’s imperious league has them on top of the pile in Spain, leading second-placed Real Madrid by six points which could extend to nine with a victory here. The Blaugrana responded to only their second league defeat of the season at Almeria by beating Valencia 1-0 in their last game, with Raphinha’s early winner followed up by a missed penalty and a red card for Ferran Torres and Ronald Araujo respectively.
ATHLETIC BILBAO SUBS: Ander Iruarrizaga, Yeray Alvarez, Iker Muniain, Gorka Guruzeta, Unai Vencedor, Yuri Berchiche, Oier Zarraga, Ander Capa, Aitor Paredes.
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