Barcelona is now just one point behind number three Real Betis, who lost 2-1 in the city derby to number two Sevilla earlier on Sunday. League-leader Real Madrid is far out of sight for Barca with a fifteen-point lead, but qualification for the Champions League does not seem to pose any problem with this selection and current form.
Barcelona has a good taste under Xavi. The game keeps getting better and the results are good too. After the 1-4 victory at Valencia last Sunday and 2-4 win at Napoli on Thursday evening, Athletic Bilbao won 4-0 in front of 70,000 spectators in the Camp Nou tonight. The Basques won 3-2 in the eighth finals of the Copa del Rey last month and at the beginning of this season, then with Ronald Koeman as coach, it was 1-1 in Bilbao.
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang made the 1-0 for Barcelona in the 37th minute on Sunday evening. The Gabonese striker, who came over for free from Arsenal last month, scored from the rebound after Gerard Pique hit the crossbar after a corner. It was Aubameyang’s fifth goal in three matches.
Xavi chose to let Frenkie de Jong start on the bench against Athletic Bilbao, after he was full of praise for the midfielder from Arkel on Thursday evening after his excellent performance in Naples. De Jong came in for Gavi in the 67th minute, while Ousmane Dembélé entered the field to replace Ferran Torres under a flute concert. Most Barcelona fans are done with the Frenchman now that he will leave the Camp Nou on a free transfer next summer, but with another good substitution he made for a fantastic final quarter of the game.
Barcelona will play against number thirteen Elche next Sunday (4.15 pm) and then play against Galatasaray in the eighth finals of the Europa League. The first leg is on March 10 in Camp Nou, the return a week later in Istanbul with the home match against Osasuna in between. At the end of March, the three Dutchmen from Barcelona can report again in Zeist, where the Orange will then prepare for the practice matches against Denmark (March 26) and Germany (29) in the Johan Cruijff Arena.
Van Aanholt and Babel on track
Patrick van Aanholt and Ryan Babel guided Galatasaray past Rizespor on Sunday evening in Istanbul. Van Aanholt scored twice, including the 3-2 just before time. Babel had restored the balance in the 70th minute by using a penalty kick. Deep into injury time, French veteran Bafétimbi Gomis determined the final score at 4-2. Galatasaray is disappointingly twelfth in the Turkish Süper Lig.