A stunning free-kick from Lionel Messi gave Barcelona a late 2-1 win at home to Athletic Bilbao which kept their La Liga title hopes alive.
A crowd of barely more than 30,000 suggested the locals had already
made their mind up about the under-pressure Gerardo Martino, and his
players did not do much to make his case as they struggled to muster
their usual cutting edge until they had fallen behind.
Aritz Aduriz had already missed two outstanding chances to score before
he put Bilbao ahead in the 50th
minute, and it was not until the 72nd
that Barca found a somewhat fortunate equaliser through Pedro.
Having done that, they needed only two minutes for Lionel Messi to give
them the lead as he powered home a set-piece from just outside the box.
Even so, this was far from vintage stuff from Barca, who move back up
into second above Real Madrid -- who were given the weekend off ahead of
their Champions League semifinal with Bayern Munich.
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