Barcelona are facing a big task in Monday's Spanish Supercup second leg against Athletic Bilbao, trying to overcome a 4-0 loss in the first leg on Friday. They exploded out of the gates in this match, trying to find goals early and often, but it took until almost halftime before a moment of Lionel Messi brilliance got Barcelona their first goal -- and then this happened.
Athletic Bilbao goalkeeper hangs onto ball for dear life after Barcelona score
Barcelona got their Spanish Supercup comeback started, but Athletic Bilbao will do anything and everything to slow it down.
David Ramos/Getty Images
Absolutely magnificent behaviour from Bilbao's keeper here pic.twitter.com/nfRlSb71QW
— Daniel Harris (@DanielHarris) August 17, 2015 That's Athletic Bilbao goalkeeper Gorka Iraizoz leaping onto the ball, not as a delayed attempt to save a shot he had no chance at but to smother the ball and delay the restart as long as possible. It took quite awhile for him to give up his precious, precious ball, and longer still for the match to restart because of Barcelona's protests and the referee's long walk to give Pedro a yellow card for his efforts to pry the ball out of the arms of Iraizoz.
Barcelona and their fans were understandably furious, but it was a smart decision by the 34-year-old veteran goalkeeper. Especially so close to the halftime whistle, Athletic had to do anything they could to keep Barcelona from building momentum and scoring again. Iraizoz risked a yellow card for timewasting for his actions, but it got the job done as Barcelona didn’t wind up with enough time to create another goal before the end of the half.
See More:
