Barcelona secure a comfortable 2-0 victory over Athletic Bilbao
- UNSTOPPABLE MESSI WILL FIRE BARCELONA TO CHAMPIONS LEAGUE GLORY, SAYS SHEVCHENKO
That's all from us today folks, we hope you enjoyed the game!
The victory now leaves Barca 11 points ahead of Atletico Madrid at the top of LaLiga and they are well on course to secure the treble this season.
Barcelona secure a comfortable 2-0 victory over Athletic Bilbao at the Camp Nou, after a superb first-half performance which led to goals from Alcacer and Messi. They probably should've scored more in that opening half, creating numerous chances, but they were held at just the two. Athletic performed much better in the second half, showing much more fight and desire, but they were unable to get back into the game.
The expectations at Barcelona are huge these days. Every summer, as the season starts, press and fans talk of winning the treble. What was previously considered extraordinary is now seen as something almost routine for the Blaugrana.
Barca are, of course, the only club to have won two trebles. The first of those arrived in 2008-09 under Pep Guardiola, with the second coming in 2014-15 with Luis Enrique in charge. And Lionel Messi, naturally, was at the forefront both times.
Current coach Ernesto Valverde was taken aback by questions of a possible treble triumph in this, his debut season at Camp Nou. And it is hardly surprising because he has won just six titles in his career as a manager, five of those in Greece.
