Barcelona midfielder Ivan Rakitic entered a substitute in time to
give his team a 1-0 home win over Athletic Bilbao on Tuesday,
avoiding a second successive draw that would have dealt
another blow to his hopes of defending the Primera Liga title.
After Barcelona lost the lead after a 0-0 draw in Seville last
Friday, he made another humble display against empty stands
at Camp Nou, with his star-studded attack line consisting of
Lionel Messi, Luis Suárez and Antoine Griezmann failing
to shine.
He finally hit the net in the 71st minute when Messi passed
the ball to Rakitic, who had just participated 6 minutes ago,
and kept his cool to score in the goal of Bilbao goalkeeper
Unai Simon.
With this result, Barcelona tops the standings with 68 points,
although Real, who has 65 points, can regain the lead thanks
to his superiority in the record of direct confrontations,
if Real Madrid is defeated, on Wednesday.
