The Spanish football champions FC Barcelona took advantage of their arch-rival Real Madrid’s mistake thanks to a fairytale debut from Marc Guiu and made the jump back to third place.
Barca won the home game against Athletic Bilbao 1-0 (0-0) and pushed Atletico Madrid back to fourth place. Only one point is missing from leaders Real.
Defending champions Barcelona started with German internationals Marc Andre ter Stegen and Ilkay Gündogan, but star striker Robert Lewandowski was still missing with an ankle sprain. In his absence, new signing Joao Felix had the best chances for his team. Felix first hit the crossbar with his shot (10th), and his low shot in the second half was parried by Unai Simon (58th).
The hero of the day was homegrown Guiu. The 17-year-old striker made his professional debut in the 79th minute. In his first ever ball action, he was sent on by Felix seconds after being substituted and confidently scored the celebrated winning goal (80th).
FC Girona, who won against UD Almeria 5:2 (3:2) on Sunday, is still tied on points with league leaders Real. In a wild game, Girona turned around a 0-2 deficit, made it 3-2 before the break and ultimately won comfortably. In second place, the surprise team is tied with Real on 25 points, and Girona also has the best offensive in LaLiga with 24 goals. Madrid only played 1-1 (0-0) at Sevilla FC on Saturday.