Barcelona missed the opportunity to move up to second in LaLiga and close the gap on leaders Real Madrid after drawing 0-0 against Athletic Club, who have now failed to beat the Blaugrana in any of their previous nine league matches, at San Mamés.
Despite the calibre of the two teams, the first half lacked quality. The best chance was an audacious long-range effort from Joao Cancelo, which had to be cleared off the line after Unai Simon came out of his goal.
Athletic’s only shot on target, meanwhile, was from Alex Berenguer, whose deflected effort was comfortably held by Marc-Andre ter Stegen.
Barcelona also suffered a double blow when Frenkie de Jong and Pedri came off injured before half time, with Fermin Lopez and Lamine Yamal coming on in their respective places
The hosts started the second half quickly, as Inaki Williams fired wide on two occasions inside the opening five minutes before Robert Lewandowski squandered a couple of decent opportunities for the visitors.
Dani Garcia had the chance to win it for Athletic in injury time, but he could only head wide when free at the back post, summing up the lack of quality on show.
Athletic had won 10 consecutive home games in all competitions before tonight, and Barcelona were on a four-match winning streak away from home in the league, so both sides were eager not to give up their unbeaten streak as the game ultimately ended all square.
