Players are just about to come out now. No rush guys. There's a chance this match could end up finishing tomorrow in Spanish time.

Athletic haven't conceded against Barcelona now in three and a half games.

Lionel Messi turns 33 tomorrow. It would be a nice early birthday present if he scored his 700th career goal, wouldn't it?

Although technically I suppose it would be like a present to himself.

As things stand, Barcelona would go top... but they'd give Real Madrid the chance to extend their lead to two points tomorrow.

The half-time whistle goes.

Antoine Griezmann tries to find Lionel Messi with a looped ball but a defender gets there first and heads it over. No time for the corner though.

Some kind of dispute over a throw-in. Just blow the whistle ref.

Two minutes added on.

Lionel Messi tries to prove me wrong but he lifts his 22-yard shot well over the bar. You'd expect him to be closer with that.

Athletic are playing with two banks of five and Barca just can't get in behind them. Not sure we're going to see a goal before half-time.

Lionel Messi to Nelson Semedo, he feels Luis Suarez but the keeper gathers. And the offside flag goes up. If I hadn't already typed it out I wouldn't have bothered telling you about that.

That cooling break killed the momentum in this game. We haven't had a chance since.

I'm on board with the fake crowd noise but I don't like the strange colours in the stands the TV team use for La Liga. From some camera angles there are colours in the seats as if fans were sitting there. From other angles you can just see the empty seats.

Corner to Barcelona, Lionel Messi takes and Inaki Williams heads away.

Barca midfielder Sergio Busquets is booked for fouling Inaki Williams and gets a one-game ban, meaning he will miss Saturday's game at Celta Vigo.

According to my thermostat it's 26C in my living room right now. I should have used that as a drinks break for myself.

Back under way.

Cooling/drinks break. It's 24C in Barcelona.

Barca right-back Nelson Semedo gets the ball on the edge of the box but totally snatches at his shot, if you can even call it that, and it's well wide.

Antoine Griezmann has failed to score in his last six league games and hasn’t gone seven without a goal in the top-flight since December 2016.

It just hasn't clicked for him at Barcelona. He lays the ball off but there is nobody behind him. Lionel Messi or Luis Suarez would have just known where the other one was.