It was Busquets and Rafinha again, and Barca won their ninth 1-0 win of the season in La Liga, nine points ahead of Real Madrid and first place in La Liga.
Ter Stegen's rescue in the 93rd minute of the game earned him his 19th clean sheet of the season and was one of Barca's biggest contributors to La Liga.
01. Out of the slump that lasted for more than 2 years: the little lion became stronger after the hair transplant
a. Goalkeepers are highly volatile? Ter Stegen was in the doldrums for more than 2 years
After four consecutive humiliating defeats in the Champions League (in the fourth year, although there were no big scores, the defeat at Camp Nou 0-3 and 1-4 at home ended Barça's unbeaten home run in the Champions League), ter Stegen's form has been somewhat sluggish for more than two years.
As you can see from the chart below, last season, ter Stegen was only in the middle of the table in the true sense of the five major league goal data rankings.
Ter Stegen, who has played 25 La Liga games so far this season, has kept 19 clean sheets and conceded only eight goals in total.
54 shots on target and 47 successful saves, a success rate of 88.9%. In contrast, Barca's goalkeepers in La Liga opponents have a 62.6% save success rate.
On the one hand, Barça's striker shoots well, on the other hand, it also shows that ter Stegen is one of the reasons why the team occupies the top spot.
As a goalkeeper, the data is actually very volatile. In the Premier League this season, the goalkeeper with the highest number of goals saved before the World Cup is Alisson, while the worst save is David De Gea.
It is worth mentioning that De Gea was the first in the Premier League in the same period of data ranking a year ago.
b. 19 clean sheets in 25 games: more hair, stronger goalkeeping
According to statistics, ter Stegen has kept 19 clean sheets in his last 25 games, and the media even praised him: "Ter Stegen has put an insurance on Barca's backline. ”
For the past few summers, ter Stegen has not had a good rest. After undergoing knee surgery last season for a deposition injury while getting a period of adjustment, his form has improved significantly.
In addition, ter Stegen also did a hair transplant for himself, and his hair became more and his goalkeeping became stronger, which also became a topic of conversation among Barca fans.
02. Being a goalkeeper at Barca: You have to pay a lot of attention
a. Barça goalkeeper: The choice of the match is the most important
The clean sheet is the first in La Liga, but ter Stegen has made slightly more saves than Courtois, Oblak and Unai Simon (exactly 48-51).
At Barca, the quality of a goalkeeper depends not only on the save, but also on the decision on the spot.
This time Conde's header went high to give the Bilbao striker a good chance. Ter Stegen made a retracting maneuver to avoid a foul and send a penalty.
Berengul's shot was of low quality and allowed Barca to escape.
This ball ter Stegen's attack may make Conde a little nervous. He may lack the grasp to return a light pass, and hesitation is a top (the last game was Conde's header error, which gave Araujo a red card).
However, it also happened that Ter Stegen attacked and interfered with Berencourt, making the latter's pick a bit hasty and therefore of low quality.
b. Barça's premise when attacking: the opponent is always more threatening to counterattack
In terms of possession, Barca reached 63%, which is an absolute advantage. As a result, in terms of the number of shots on goal, Barca trailed 10-15 and the number of shots on target was also 2-5 at a disadvantage.
The reason for this is also that when Barca dominates the ball, the formation presses forward as a whole, and once a mistake is easy to give the opponent a better shot opportunity.
Bilbao tried to press high at one point in the game, and Barca were a bit embarrassed at the back. The reason for this result is that Barça's no-ball man did not do a good enough job when responding.
This time when Valder had the ball, Busquets was relatively the focus of Athletic Bilbao. De Jong, who is in the open position, and Ferran Torres (who can retreat, do the ball and then insert the ball), should take the initiative to receive Balde.
As a result, as can be seen from the game footage, Ferran Torres and De Jong did not move at all, and Balde made a pass error after passing and allowed Athletic Bilbao to launch a counterattack on the spot.
Fortunately, ter Stegen was very focused and saved the opponent's shot.
At the end of the game, De Jong was again broken for handling the ball, and Williams, who drove straight in, threw Balder and scored into the box.
Fortunately, VAR showed that Munia's goal was cancelled due to his arm touching the ball when he broke the ball, otherwise Ter Stegen would have been unable to recover.
03. Ter Stegen clean sheet: wait for a Labrador victory
a. The performance of the door line is more reliable
In this game, ter Stegen actually completed 3 saves (the opponent also hit the upright and 1 crossbar), it should be said that the overall improvement of the defensive line made him need to do less work.
Strikes and single-knives are not as much as in the past 2 or 3 years, and goal-line reaction has always been Ter Stegen's strength.
This time the shot that saved Muniain was a demonstration of ter Stegen's advantageous project. The German goalkeeper is not very good at attacking (interception crosses are okay, handling one-knife balls) and the goal line is relatively fast.
Although Conde has been shot several times after being dangled in front of the penalty area (and two high), ter Stegen has been a relatively strong point in dealing with such half-height shots.
Including the opponent's shot in the case of offside, Inaki Williams finished with good quality, and ter Stegen's speed on the ground is obviously a big improvement from the previous 2 years of slump.
Apart from that handball being invalidated, Barca's biggest defensive crisis came in the 93rd minute.
At that time, Nico Williams moved inward, Conde actually did not follow, once the opponent shot on target, I am afraid that Barca will really lose points.
Ter Stegen made three successful saves, two of which were related to Balder. In the first half, he was broken, this time Balder was scored by Inaki Williams in a positional battle.
Conde missed the adducted Nico Williams, and if it wasn't for the opponent's own empty kick, Barca would have really rubbed shoulders with the victory.
The opponent took the ball from the back point and shot again, Ter Stegen's save was solid, and the subsequent follow-up shot was blocked by Alonso.
b. Barça celebrates Labrador-style victory
From the comparison data of expected goals conceded by La Liga goalkeepers and actual goals conceded so far last season, it can be seen that ter Stegen has finally changed from last season's "negative effect" to this season's +2.1.
Of course, this statistic is not very outstanding, Real Madrid goalkeeper Courtois is +2.9, and the best performing Bonu is +5.4 (the weak team is the goalkeeper). But looking at Oblak's -10.4, ter Stegen's recovery has been able to satisfy Barca fans.
Of course, it is not only the goalkeeper who wins, Sergio Busquets has provided assists in two consecutive La Liga matches, and the same teammate --- Rafinha scored.
This time when Busquets took the ball, it was not a chance at all. He didn't just get rid of the defenders, he also keenly observed Rafinha in the open space.
This goal, like the previous over-the-top assist, goes to Sergio Busquets for much of the credit.
The old minister of the third generation of dreams is the wealth of Barça. Busquets was able to stay in the team and was one of the big reasons why Barca won La Liga.
Conclusion:
With 13 rounds left in La Liga, Barca hold a nine-point lead. Although there is still a head-to-head conversation with Real Madrid, Xavi's record against the Madrid side is quite convincing.
After being out of Europe, Barca have a relatively relaxed fixture schedule. Of the 13 La Liga games, 7 are at home, and a week later La Liga national derby with Real Madrid (home to Barca), as long as you don't lose, you may be able to end the suspense.