Barcelona extended their unbeaten start to the season with a hard-fought 2-0 win over Athletic Bilbao at San Mames.
Lionel Messi narrowly missed opening the scoring in the early stages of the match before finally breaking the deadlock in the 36th minute. Bilbao were the dominant of the two sides thereafter, but without much of an end product.
Barcelona, though, went on to grab the second goal in the match when Paulinho tapped the ball into an empty net in the dying moments of the match. And the Brazilian was hailed by Barcelona fans for another impressive performance.
When you’re a midfielder coming from China and you score more goals in La Liga than Luis Suarez pic.twitter.com/SER5RJNbNz
— Barça (@MessiAndDembele) October 28, 2017
In 2 or 3 games Paulinho understood Leo better than some Argentina players. Unreal man
— Julian (@ElaficionadoFC) October 28, 2017
Paulinho vs Athletic (@BrazilEdition):
47 passes completed
9 duels won
4 dribbles
2 tackles
2 long balls
1 goalbetter than Pele pic.twitter.com/jERXAibsK6
— ᵁᴸᵀᴿᴬ® (@UltraAutistic) October 28, 2017
Paulinho is building a really good connection with Messi. Almost feels like they’ve been playing together for years sometimes
— Juan (@socraticjuan) October 28, 2017
Paulinho has easily been our best midfielder in this game
— Steve M. Barca (@Stevecaresx) October 28, 2017
You make the runs, you get the rewards. Paulinho’s a boss.
— Samuel Marsden (@samuelmarsden) October 28, 2017
Paulinho’s well on his Corinthians and Brazil NT form, he’s been fantastic since his debut. Helps Messi more than Rakitic and Suárez atm.
— Rafael Hernández (@RafaelH117) October 28, 2017
Young Paulinho pic.twitter.com/bVc4UGukTm
— a d i l (@Barzaboy) October 28, 2017
Lionel Messi was the toast of the Barcelona fanbase once again as he continued his fine early season form with his 16th goal of the season.
Lionel Messi is art. The greatest football artist the world has ever seen and he plays for my team
I feel blessed
— Klauss (@sani_waspapping) October 28, 2017
Leo Messi career:
? 720 Games
⚽️ 584 Goals
? 283 Assists
? 30 Trophies
? 44 Hattricks
? 5 Ballons d’Or
? 4 Golden BootsGreatest ever ? pic.twitter.com/5SZQgFJMOt
— Leo Messi (@messi10stats) October 28, 2017
Messi for Barça this season:
? 15 games
⚽️ 16 goals
? 3 assists
? 3 Braces
? 2 Hattricks? King pic.twitter.com/ce0Re2KhaD
— Leo Messi (@messi10stats) October 28, 2017
Thank you God for Messi ❤
— اذلان. (@AzLannister) October 28, 2017
Ray Hudson: The lions came out of their cage and growled at Barcelona. But in the jungle, there’s only one king, and that is King Leo.” pic.twitter.com/MIdP3WK3vv
— Messi’s Team ⑩ (@MESSISTEAM) October 28, 2017
30 years of age and more complete than ever before ?
Simply the GOAT Messi ? pic.twitter.com/v8iojwBRCi
— mx (@BUSQXETS2) October 28, 2017
Oh and don’t forget #Messi 16 goals…
And 10 shots on post this season. #BeastMode @LaLigaCanada pic.twitter.com/YRAWbIi6iR— Jose Miranda-Alvarez (@jmirandalv) October 28, 2017
Marc-Andre ter Stegen was lauded by Barcelona supporters for playing a major role in earning the win for his side as well.
If Ter Stegen likes pineaple on Pizza we like it too. End of the debate
— Julian (@ElaficionadoFC) October 28, 2017
Ter Stegen is on another level this season. If we win, he deserves huge credit. This would’ve been a totally different game had we conceded.
— Josip (@jperkovic93) October 28, 2017
Ter Stegen is incredible pic.twitter.com/XcuX0XB4Be
— Leo Messi (@messi10stats) October 28, 2017
Ter Stegen’s evolution in 2017 has been ENORMOUS. He was receiving heavy criticism a year ago, but is one of the most important players now.
— Juan (@socraticjuan) October 28, 2017