Barcelona maintained their four-point lead atop La Liga following a 2-0 victory over Athletic Bilbao at the San Mames. Lionel Messi scored the first for Barcelona, his 12th of the 10-game La Liga season, in the 36th minute. Paulinho added the second in the 92nd to ensure the three points for Barca.
Remarkably, that’s Paulinho’s third goal of the season for the club, moving him level with Luis Suarez in league play as Barca’s second highest scorer. With Messi in the kind of form he’s currently in, the club hasn’t had any real need for additional marksmen.
Messi started and finished a brilliant team move for Barca’s opening goal with Jordi Alba applying a great assist.
¡De Messi a @JordiAlba a Leo Messi y es GOOOOOOOOL! Ya son 12 goles en @LaLiga para La Pulga con el @FCBarcelona_es - #AthleticBarça pic.twitter.com/JXxeT3zvNI
— beIN SPORTS Español (@ESbeINSPORTS) October 28, 2017
Paulinho then profited off a Luis Suarez shot to move level with the Uruguayan on goals.
¡GOOOL! Parecía que el @AthleticClub podría empatar pero apareció la 'MSP' para sentenciar el partido. @paulinhop8 - #AthleticBarça pic.twitter.com/KlniqcCVXX
— beIN SPORTS Español (@ESbeINSPORTS) October 28, 2017
The pressure is now on Real Madrid to avoid any sort of slip-up when they visit Girona on Sunday. Barcelona are currently enjoying an eight-point gap over their rivals.