This looked a tough game on paper for Barcelona but they passed the test at Athletic with flying colors to move into third place in the league table after 17 games.
There have been plenty of doom-merchants this season insisting Barca would struggle for a Champions League place but victory even had Ronald Koeman talking about the title again.
“The title race is still open because the season is very long. There can be injuries, teams can have downturns and a side that looks very good can end up struggling.”
Barca are still seven points off Atletico, who also have two games in hand, but Wednesday’s match certainly offered plenty of optimism after a tough start to 2020-21.