Yamal bends Barca past Bilbao
2026-03-08 - 09:03
Teenage star Lamine Yamal’s superbly-taken goal earned Barcelona a 1-0 win at Athletic Bilbao on Saturday in La Liga. The champions restored their four-point lead over second-placed Real Madrid, who had temporarily closed the gap by beating Celta Vigo on Friday. Atletico Madrid tightened their grip on third with an entertaining 3-2 win over Real Sociedad. Yamal’s curler Yamal, 18, curled into the top corner after 68 minutes to split the sides at Athletic’s San Mames stadium. “We’re already seeing what Lamine can do – he puts it right in the top corner and there’s nothing the keeper can do,” Barca midfielder Pedri told Movistar. “He’s very young and he’s only going to get better. “What he has to do is not settle, to keep going like this, keep working and enjoying himself out there on the pitch, because he gives us a lot.” Barca coach Hansi Flick rotated his side, with Tuesday’s visit to face Newcastle in the Champions League last 16 looming. As a result his team put in a disjointed first-half display, creating little and looking far from their free-flowing best. “Everyone was fighting, defending as a unit and we have a clean sheet again and that’s really important,” Flick told reporters, focusing on the positives. “One game less and three points more, it’s a perfect situation.” Barca’s Ferran Torres floundered up front, bereft of form, and Athletic had the marginally better openings of a forgettable first half. Joao Cancelo hit the frame of his own goal early on and Selton Sanchez ran through on goal but Barcelona stopper Joan Garcia got down well to dispossess him. Inaki Williams had a strike ruled out for offside and Garcia thwarted Oihan Sancet early in the second half, in a rare clear opening as the two Copa del Rey semi-final losing sides continued to tussle fruitlessly. Barcelona’s teenage star Yamal had an unusually quiet first hour but escaped Athletic defender Adama Boiro’s close attentions to break the deadlock. Substitute Pedri found Yamal and as Boiro slipped the youngster whipped the ball into the top corner off