Barcelona have edged out Spanish Super Cup winners Athletic Club at Camp Nou.
Barcelona have edged out Athletic Club 2-1 at Nou Camp, with Lionel Messi and Antoine Griezmann finding the scoresheet.
Messi had an early crack at the goal after being played through by Griezzman, but his shot was denied by Athletic keeper Unai Simon.
But it didn’t take long for the Argentine to make his mark as he opened the scoring with a stunning free-kick, leaving the entire Bilbao defence speechless.
Barca couldn’t cling on to the lead as they conceded in an awful manner, with Jordi Alba finding his own nets.
As both the teams searched for the winner, Antoine Griezmann put Barca upfront again after latching on to Frenkie de Jong’s cross.
The goal turned out to be the winning one as Barca snatched three points to move ahead of Real Madrid to the second position in La Liga table.
It is also a means of payback to their defeat at Spanish Super Cup final, where Barca fell short against Marcelino’s side.
Messi’s impressive track record against Athletic Club proved helpful once again as he produced another classy display. The 33-year-old has 12 goals to his name this season, two goals shy of the current leader Luis Suarez.
Griezmann’s significance to the Catalan club has increased since the turn of the year as he has been consistent every week.
Barca will face Granada in the Copa del Rey quarter-finals on Thursday.
