The crowd had barely caught their breath after Luuk de Jong’s quick banger when the 82nd minute substitute Memphis Depay closed the count for the night as Barcelona took on Athletic Club at home on a pleasant winter night here in Camp Nou.
Xavi’s Barcelona looked to be in better form going into the game with 3 wins and 2 draws in the past 5 league games. However, Athletic Club could have been expecting a favourable score away from home, going in with the confidence from a draw and a win the last two times the teams faced each other, as well as a 4-0 win over Real Sociedad in their last league game. Not to forget, they were the same Bilbao that had eliminated the blue-and-reds from this year’s Copa del Rey.
The hat-trick in the last La Liga game against Valencia and one against Napoli in the Europa League game on Thursday prove to be a great welcome streak for the recently acquired front-man Aubameyang and it showed in his confident first goal of the night.
Six minutes after being subbed on, Ousmane Dembélé delivered the first goal of the second half and went on to assist the next two in the final minutes of the game, taking the score to a neat 4-0 in the Blaugrana’s favour as the full-time whistle blew.
This win has got to have helped with the team’s confidence as Barcelona takes on Elche away from home next week. As for el Bilbao, they will be taking on Valencia mid-week for the second leg of the Copa del Rey Semi-Finals at the latter’s home. The visitors trail by 8 points now to the 4th placed Blaugrana.
“It feels like we’re seeing a glimpse of the old Barcelona again and we couldn’t be more excited!” the fans at Camp Nou told Footy Times.
Barcelona’s recent form seems to be reflecting a remontada to their past glory of being among Europe’s most elite, however, whether Xavi and his men can hold on to this winning streak remains to be seen.
