Luis Suarez hits a hat-trick to keep Barcelona in the title race

Eraso had it

First minute of play and Athletic wanted to hit first. Munian surprised in a back pass to Bravo and gave the ball to Eraso, but his shot went over the crossbar. He had another chance in the second half, and after a good dribble, his shot was too high again.

Penalty and red card

When hardly two minutes of play had gone by, Iraizoz knocked Luis Suarez over inside the box. Penalty kick for the home side and Athletic Club were down one man right at the start of the game. Iago Herrerin came on for Muniain.

Luis Enrique: "After the red card and the penalty, a game started that we had to close it out" #fcblive pic.twitter.com/aRMbFG22NS

— FC Barcelona (@FCBarcelona) January 17, 2016

 

Messi

He was given a standing ovation for his five golden balls minutes before, and after two minutes of play, Camp Nou were chanting his name again. He scored the penalty to open the score. However, the supporters only enjoyed him for 45 minutes, as he was taken off at half time for Arda Turan.

Leo Messi offered up the Ballon d'Or to the fans at Camp Nou #BallondOr https://t.co/o52LpKVMAA

— FC Barcelona (@FCBarcelona) January 17, 2016

Neymar

Neymar enjoys himself and the supporters enjoy Ney. He passed the ball to Luis Suarez, who held on to it just enough to assist the Brazilian. Neymar chipped the ball over Iago Herrerin. Then, he performed one of the plays of the night to assist Rakitic in the fourth goal.

Luis Suarez hat trick

Luis Suarez hadn’t scored in 2016, but against Athletic he ended his bad streak with a hat trick. The first came from a one-two play with Neymar. In the second he controlled Arda’s assist with his chest and scored with his outer foot. And the third was a header to Sergio Busquets’s cross.

With his hat-trick @LuisSuarez9 is now on 18 goals and is top scorer in the league #FCBAthletic #FCBlive pic.twitter.com/4vLF9kK7k8

— FC Barcelona (@FCBarcelona) January 17, 2016