Barcelona coach Quique Setien has expressed disappointment as his side struggled for a narrow 1-0 win against mid-table’s Athletic Bilbao in La Liga on Tuesday. Ivan Rakitic saved the Catalan giants from embarrassment, especially after playing a goalless draw against Sevilla in their last fixture.
“When teams offer you little space you have to be very precise and agile and we have been lacking that since we returned,” Setien told a virtual news conference as quoted by Sportstar.
“It’s not been easy and we are missing something overall, a bit of spark. Our opponents have a lot to do with this because they are sticking together and leaving hardly any space and we’re finding it hard to open them up.
“But I think we’ll start to find it easier the more the season goes on.”
Barcelona have not been able to produce their greatest performance in the four matches since the resumption of Spain’s top-flight after COVID-19 lockdown. They had thrashed relegation-threatened Real Mallorca 4-0 in their first game but appeared rusty in the 2-0 victory over another bottom-tier club Leganes before failing to get more than one point against Sevilla.
Meanwhile, on Tuesday Barcelona somehow managed to get full points and dethroned Real Madrid from the top of the points table.
Rakitic had come in as a second-half substitute and scored after Barcelona captain Lionel Messi had caught Athletic defender Yeray Alvarez with a full set of studs on his ankle and averted a suspension. Eventually, it was Messi who fed Rakitic for the only goal of the night.
The first half was an even affair with both the teams failing to generate much chances. However, it was Atheltic Bilbao who got themselves the first genuine chance of the game after Inaki Williams, playing his 150th consecutive game, hit the side netting on a break.