The lionesses face the leader Barça

There was no surprise against the almighty Barça in Lezama, as Iraia Iturregi suspected. Athletic, yes, competed from start to finish against the intractable champion of the League, Cup and Champions, but paid dearly for their lack of success on the few occasions in which they peeked through the visiting goal, on the one hand, and with forcefulness back in the actions from which the many rivals arose, on the other. The Bilbao team, yes, made the azulgrana sweat more than necessary.

The rojiblanca technique approached the match with an intensive withdrawal made up of a front row of four back, a midfield with Peke embedded as reinforcement and Lucía alone up front. Athletic, as was evident from the initial whistle, was predisposed to defend, but without giving up taking advantage of its speed on the counterattack. The first arrivals, in fact, were locals.

The stealing of the ball in the center of the field resulted in the arrival of Peke, Itxaso and Lucía. Barça was even on the verge of scoring an own goal when Leila headed in a desperate exit from Paños. The ball went slightly wide.

The good local commitment was gradually overtaken by the know-how of the azulgrana. Quiñones and his defense prevented the ball from entering their goal first in a play with up to three consecutive shots from the visitors and another later with two consecutive. Eunate, in between, tried his luck with a shot that went slightly off target.

This time Athletic’s inside left-hander had the best option to open the scoring four minutes before the break after an internment by Oihane and a cross to the center of the area that her teammate narrowly missed. From what could have been 1-0, it went immediately to 0-1 in an arrival of Barça, already without the injured Paredes, in which Moraza failed to clear and Marta did to specify.

The second half, with Oguiza in place of the injured Unzué, started with an early riser for both visitors. The red and white defense paid for their lack of coordination and Oshoala did not forgive. The lionesses, with Peke already exercising more at the wing along with Lucía and Eunate on the left side with Moraza ahead, continued trying to take advantage of their speed up front to surprise the rival, but they found themselves with a new goal against the work of Mariona.

Giráldez opted from there for a triple simultaneous change. The azulgrana continued to accumulate arrivals against an Athletic team that at times advanced its line of pressure and that had a clear opportunity in Erika’s boots at the edge of regulation time to reduce differences on the scoreboard. Barça once again proved to be a lot of Barça, but the rojiblanco team made it clear that they are progressing adequately.