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Barcelona fell to a 1-0 defeat on the opening day of the 2019/2020 LaLiga season, with a spectacular acrobatic strike from 38-year-old Aritz Aduriz settling the tie.
The Catalans came into the fixture as two-time defending LaLiga champions, and would have been seeking to kickoff their title defense with a victory at a packed San Mames.
However, that failed to happen, and with this defeat, Barcelona would find themselves playing catch-up to their domestic rivals.
Given the difference in pedigree and quality of players between both sides, the Blaugrana were heavily installed as favorites to win the tie, but in rather shocking scenes, the home side upset the form book and bookmakers' prediction with their victory.
In this piece, we shall be highlighting five reasons why Barcelona lost to Athletic Bilbao.
#1 The absence of Lionel Messi
In the lead up to the start of their LaLiga title defense, Ernesto Valverde sweated over the fitness of his captain Lionel Messi, as the Argentine had suffered a calf injury upon resumption of training during preseason.
The 55-year-old's worst fears were confirmed, when it was revealed that Barcelona would be without the services of their record goalscorer for the trip to the Basque country.
Barcelona have a multitude of proven world class performers within their ranks such that Lionel Messi's absence should ostensibly not be felt, but the 32-year-old's extraordinary talents and performance levels mean that his absence would always be felt by any team regardless of the presence of other players.
This proved to be the case against Bilbao, as the Catalans struggled for penetration and incisiveness which would not have been the case had their captain been present.
With Lionel Messi out of the side, head coach Gaizka Garitano instructed his players to press high up the field, hassling the Barcelona midfielders and barely giving them time to think or act.
It is hard to imagine that the home side would have played with such attacking impetus had Messi been available, and without his services, Barcelona lacked the ability to take advantage of the spaces left in behind by the high pressing Bilbao players.
Lionel Messi's status as a bonafide game changer is not in doubt, and fans of the Catalans would hope their talisman for the visit of Real Betis next weekend.
#2 Incredible home support for Athletic Bilbao
Prior to kickoff against Athletic Bilbao, cameras panned in on numerous sectors of the field, with bleachers and stands virtually unrecognizable, as everywhere was decked in an alluring sea of red and white.
San Mames was filled to the rafters, with 47,000 fans coming out in full force to cheer their beloved team to glory.
Athletic Bilbao is famed for having one of the more passionate and vociferous supporters in LaLiga, and against Barcelona, they were at their passionate best, urging their team on every step of the way for from the first blast of the whistle till the last kick of the game.
There is a saying that the fans in football are the 12th man on the field, and this much was evident against Barcelona, as the extra support provided by their fans buoyed the Bilbao players, giving them an extra spring in their steps and ultimately leading them to victory.
#3 The loss of Luis Suarez to injury
Having had to start the game without the services of Lionel Messi, Barcelona suffered another injury setback 33 minutes into the match when center-forward Luis Suarez pulled up with what appeared to be a muscular strain on his right leg.
He immediately signaled to the bench and was replaced by Rafinha, with Barcelona fans waiting with bated breaths on news of the severity of the injury.
Despite criticisms leveled at him, the Uruguayan international is still among the best in his position, and ended Barcelona's preseason campaign as the club's highest goalscorer despite resuming later than his teammates.
With Suarez present, Barcelona are always in with a chance, as the 32-year-old's predatory instincts and awareness in the box mean that he is always attune to sniffing out chances from nothing, evidenced by his shot which rattled the bottom post in the immediate aftermath of his injury.
Upon his departure, Griezmann was drafted into the center of attack, and the Frenchman failed to offer the same threat as Luis Suarez does.
#4 Athletic Bilbao overran Barcelona in midfield
Barcelona's possession based style of play and high emphasis on ball retaining midfielders means that very rarely do the Catalans fail to impose their authority in midfield.
Against Athletic Bilbao, Ernesto Valverde opted to start the unfamiliar trio of Sergi Roberto, Frenkie de Jong and Carles Alena, but perhaps as a sign of their non-acquaintance with one another, Barcelona were totally overrun in midfield, with Dani Garcia, Unai Lopez and Raul Garcia totally dominating proceedings, with the Barcelona midfield struggling to get to grips with the tempo of the game.
Frenkie de Jong and Carles Alena in particular struggled with the high press deployed by Gaizka Garitano, with none of the usual calmness associated with the Barcelona defense evident against their hosts.
Time and again, the Bilbao midfield slid through midfield as though their opponents were non-existent to launch attack after attack especially in the first half, and even though a semblance of sanity was restored to the middle of the park upon the introduction of Ivan Rakitic at half-time, it was far from a convincing performance by the Barcelona midfield.
#5 Overall, Barcelona were extremely poor
Coming in as defending champions and having spent over €250m on new arrivals, Barcelona were generally expected to triumph against Athletic Bilbao.
It is one thing to lose having given your best, but it is an entirely different matter to lose with your players offering next to nothing on the field of play, and the latter is the exact scenario the Blaugrana found themselves in.
As touched on earlier, the midfield failed to pull its weight, while their defense and attack were also poor.
Only a handful of Barcelona players impressed, with Marc Andre ter Stegen, Rafinha and Ousmane Dembele among those who showcased their abilities while their teammates toiled in vain.
Though Barcelona controlled most of the ball, seeing 73% of possession, most of their passes were sideways harmless balls, with the Athletic Bilbao midfielders ensuring they kept their visitors away from their danger areas.
In total, the Catalans managed just two shots on target to their opponents five, while they failed to significantly test Unai Simon in the Bilbao goal.
This was rather a shocking return from a side that had talents like Luis Suarez, Antoine Griezmann and Ousmane Dembele on display, and given their shambolic displays, the result was a fair justification of proceedings over the course of the 90 minutes.
