Frenkie de Jong and Pedri both injured as Barcelona draw with Athletic Bilbao

By Sports Desk March 03, 2024

Barcelona remain third in LaLiga after being held to a 0-0 draw by Athletic Bilbao at San Mames.

A frustrating evening for Barca included midfielders Frenkie de Jong and Pedri coming off with injuries in the first half.

Xavi’s men are eight points behind leaders Real Madrid, who had drawn 2-2 at Valencia on Saturday.

And they are a point behind second-placed Girona, whose 1-0 loss at Mallorca earlier on Sunday, via a first-half Jose Manuel Copete goal, had offered Barca the chance to climb the table.

Fourth-placed Atletico Madrid beat Real Betis 2-1 at home with a Rui Silva own goal and Alvaro Morata effort putting the hosts in charge before William Carvalho’s reply, and Alexander Sorloth netted a hat-trick as Villarreal thrashed second-bottom Granada 5-1 at El Madrigal.

In Serie A, second-placed Juventus suffered a third defeat in five games as they lost 2-1 at Napoli.

Giacomo Raspadori scored a late winner on the follow-up when Victor Osimhen’s penalty was saved by Wojciech Szczesny, after Federico Chiesa had cancelled out Khvicha Kvaratskhelia’s opener.

It leaves Juve 12 points adrift of Inter Milan, who host Genoa on Monday.

Fourth-placed Bologna strengthened their Champions League bid by coming from behind to triumph 2-1 at Atalanta, with Scotland’s Lewis Ferguson netting the winner.

Cagliari moved up a place to 18th with a 1-0 win at Empoli. They are level on points with 17th-placed Hellas Verona, who beat Sassuolo 1-0 at home.

Sunday’s other top-flight game in Italy saw Frosinone and Lecce draw 1-1.

Bayer Leverkusen went 10 points clear at the top of the Bundesliga with a 2-0 win at 10-man Cologne.

After the hosts had Jan Thielmann sent off early on, Jeremie Frimpong and Alejandro Grimaldo scored in each half for Xabi Alonso’s men as they took full advantage of second-placed Bayern Munich being held at Freiburg on Friday.

Maximilian Beier’s first-half brace secured a 2-1 win for Hoffenheim at home against Werder Bremen, the hosts holding out for three points after having Marius Bulter sent off in the 73rd minute and conceding a stoppage-time Skelly Alvero goal.

In Ligue 1, Brest are nine points behind Paris St Germain in second after Pierre Lees-Melou’s first-half effort secured a 1-0 home win over Le Havre, extending their unbeaten run to 13 games.

Toulouse came from behind to win 2-1 at home against fifth-placed Nice, and Lens are up to sixth following a 3-0 win at Lyon.

Lorient moved out of the relegation zone with a 2-1 win at Rennes, Montpellier dropped in having drawn 2-2 at home with Strasbourg and second-bottom Metz won 2-0 at Nantes.

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    League leaders Barca appeared to be cruising towards victory when they opened up a two-goal lead thanks to captain Raphinha and leading goalscorer Robert Lewandowski.

    Raphinha cut inside before tucking home for the opener 15 minutes in, then Lewandowski got his 15th league goal of the season with a simple finish in the 61st minute.

    However, the script changed when Blaugrana midfielder Marc Casado was sent off after receiving his second yellow card in the 82nd minute.

    With Barca down to 10 men, the home side piled on the pressure and it told in the 84th minute, substitute Alfonso Gonzalez converting following an error from Jules Kounde.

    The comeback was complete two minutes later, with Hugo Alvarez drilling past Inaki Pena to deny Flick's visitors victory.

    Despite the result, Barca top LaLiga with 34 points, five ahead of Atletico Madrid in second and seven ahead of third-placed Real Madrid, who have two games in hand. 

    Data Debrief: Blaugrana finally held

    Going into Saturday's game, Barcelona had gone 24 matches without a draw in LaLiga, winning 20 and losing four. 

    When they entered the final six minutes with a two-goal advantage, it appeared certain they would match their longest streak without a draw in the competition's history, recorded between February and October 2017 (25 games, 23 wins and two draws).

    However, Hansi Flick's side were stunned at the death as they dropped points for a second game in succession following a 1-0 loss at Real Sociedad prior to the international break.

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    "I live in the present, we are having a good time, the boys are working very responsibly," Simeone told DAZN. 

    "I am calm and at peace. I love where I am and that's it."

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