The teenage sensation and the living legend were both on target as Barca picked up all three from Wednesday’s outing at San Mames.
FC Barcelona, after overcoming an early setback, ran out 3-2 winners against Athletic Bilbao.
Not even five minutes had elapsed after kick-off when Barca found themselves trailing behind. An exquisite through-ball from Raul Garcia opened up Inaki Williams who then escaped the visitors’ high defensive line and put the hosts in front.
It did not take long, however, for the opposition to respond. Pedri leveled the scoreline, heading in Frenkie de Jong’s cutback cross, before setting up Lionel Messi with a lovely backheel pass to make sure his side go into the break with the lead.
“Pedri is showing that, despite his young age, he’s very mature,” Koeman said in his post-match interview, via Marca.
“Messi has always shown his game and his hunger but today he did it with goals too. He’s so important.”
Barcelona have now climbed up to third place in the La Liga standings with 31 points – four less than second-placed Real Madrid and seven below table-toppers Atletico Madrid.
“We’re going to fight until the last game,” the Dutch manager added. “There’s a gap [to the top] but we’re on the right path.”
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