Barcelona 6-0 Athletic Bilbao: 5 Talking Points

Barcelona rehearsed for the upcoming Copa del Rey clash with Athletic Bilbao with a 6-0 thrashing of 10-man Basque outfit in the league at the Camp Nou to reclaim pole position in the standings. Luis Suarez scored a hat-trick whilst Lionel Messi, Neymar and Ivan Rakitic each bagged a goal apiece in the rout.The game began in the worst possible way for the visitors as goalkeeper Gorka Iraizoz was sent off in the fifth minute for a challenge on Suarez and Messi stepped up coolly slot home the resulting penalty. Neymar doubled the lead shortly after, whereas Suarez got his third treble of the season on either side of Rakitic’s point-blank range tap-in.An easy win for the defending champions keeps them ahead of the chasing pack at the top, and sent a warning to Los Leones ahead of their meetings in the King’s Cup. Here are the major talking points from the game.

#1 Red card sets the tone for Bilbao

The moment Gorka Iraizoz was sent off for his tackle on Luis Suarez, there was going to be only one winner. Barcelona were always expected to swim through this, but their task was only made easier by the red card dished out in their favour.

With five minutes gone and a man down, the writing was on the wall for the visiting Athletic Bilbao. The Basque side were already crippled due to the suspension of their talismanic forward Aritz Aduriz and were also missing the industry of Raul Garcia in midfield, who picked up an injury in their last outing. So the red card would only compound the misery.

The home side obviously enjoyed the advantage and Bilbao, for all their efforts, couldn’t halt the shellacking from happening.

#2 Luis Suarez shows no signs of stopping

Luis Suarez is having his greatest season as a footballer

Barcelona centre-forward Luis Suarez has taken his goal-scoring exploits up by a notch his season. The Uruguayan has already scored three hat-tricks this term and, at halfway through the season, he stands at a staggering 29 goals in all competitions – four more than he managed in the whole of last season.

The former Liverpool striker was once again the leading marksman and continued his fine run in front of the goal with an amazing hat-trick. Suarez burst into life in the second half and grabbed all the three during the process.

His impressive form will keep the mood cheerful at Barcelona and other big teams across Europe should better beware, for Suarez does not look like he is going to stop.

#3 Messi substituted at half-time

Messi was taken off at half-time after an injury

Amid the drubbing, one curious thing that transpired was Lionel Messi getting subbed off at half-time in a truly mysterious circumstance. Arda Turan was brought on for the recently crowned Ballon d’Or winner, but the mystery behind the substitution was answered by manager Luis Enrique when he said he suffered a muscle strain.

“Messi will have tests tomorrow, he has a small strain and had a little discomfort so we preferred not to take any risks,” said Enrique. “We spoke about it at half-time and with the scoreline as it was we did not want to take risks. I don't like taking risks with any player, so imagine what it’s like with Messi.”

Messi stepped up to convert a penalty early in the first half and opened the floodgates by powerfully striking it into the bottom corner. For the remainder of the half, he was, as usual, involved heavily in the attack and was a thorn in the face of Bilbao.

#4 Athletic get a hint of what they can expect in Copa del Rey

Athletic Bilbao sent shock waves across Europe when they snatched away the Spanish Supercup trophy from the treble-winning Barelona side after winning the tie 5-1 on aggregate at the start of the season – including the historic 4-0 victory at San Mames. Fast forward the calender by six months and that seems like a distant memory.

Los Leones have stumbled in the league and haven’t been able to carry that kind of form into their domestic campaign. Nobody expected them to pull off another upset here, but the magnitude of defeat only sets the warning bells ringing back in the Basque country.

The two sides meet on two more occasions this season – in the quarter-finals of the Copa del Rey. And after today’s outcome, Ernesto Valverde’s side have got a sneek-peek into what is coming their way in those ties.

#5 Race for Pichichi to go down to the wire

Can Messi catch-up with the rest and reclaim the Golden Boot ?

Over the last couple of years, the coveted Pichichi (La Liga Golden Boot), has been shared by the extra-terrrestrial duo of Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo. The Barcelona ace has won it three times so far, whilst the Real Madrid talisman has gone one better with four.

This season, however, it is going to be more tight and the duo will have to work their socks off in order to stake a strong claim on it again. Right now, Luis Suarez leads the pack in Spain with 18 goals to his name, whereas the likes of Neymar, Cristiano Ronaldo and Karim Benzema are on his coat-trails with 16 strikes each. Messi, who missed two months on account of an injury lay-off, is way behind with only 10, but one should not write him off yet.

There is no clear favourite for the prize yet and it appears it may not be decided until the season ends.