They weren’t at their best, but Koeman won’t mind as Barcelona avenge their Supercopa loss with a 2-1 win over Athletic Bilbao in LaLiga.
Messi’s sublime free-kick after 20 minutes opened the scoring, before Alba’s awkward own goal following a Raul Garcia cross gave the visitors some hope just after the restart.
From there – Barca were in control without dominating, failing to trouble Simon for large stretches of time as they found it difficult to up their tempo in midfield.
The pressure ended up paying off for the hosts though, who found the breakthrough with just over 15 minutes remaining in the match;
Griezmann getting on the end of a Mingueza pass to beat the goalkeeper from close range.
The win sends Barcelona up the table into second place, while Marcelino’s side stay 11th with the loss.
Barcelona are back in action on Wednesday, when they travel to face Granada in the Copa del Rey, before visiting Real Betis in LaLiga next Sunday.
Athletic meet Betis in the Copa on Thursday, before hosting Valencia in the league in seven days.
