Barcelona ratings v Athletic Bilbao: Ter Stegen 9, Raphinha 8, Gavi 7

Raphinha's strike earned Barcelona an agonising 1-0 win to restore their nine-point lead over Real Madrid at the top of La Liga

BARCELONA RATINGS: Marc-Andre ter Stegen 9 - Warned for timewasting in the second half as Barça tried to hold out against the Basques, then he dived to push a Munian save away and another from Williams to keep his side in the game. Man of the match. EPA

Sergi Roberto 6 - Booked amid the Athletic onslaught, but helped Barca hold out to go nine points clear at the top of La Liga with only 13 games to play. EPA

Jules Kounde 8 - Played as a central defender in the absence of Araujo. Ball bounced over his head after 24 minutes and created a great chance for Athletic, but otherwise fantastic. EPA

Andreas Christensen 7 - The Dane again showed why he was such a good signing for Barcelona last year. Reuters

Alejandro Balde 7 - Got in behind the stubborn Basque defence to cross to Lewandowski on 51 minutes. EPA

Frenkie de Jong 8 - Super pass to Lewandowski on 16 minutes. Dropped deeper in midfield midway through the first half, then fouled by Munian after 86 minutes which led to VAR ruling Williams’ equaliser out. AFP

Sergio Busquets 7 - Half-volleyed a shot over after nine minutes, his side’s second chance. Superb assist for Raphinha’s opener. EPA

Gavi 7 - Covered much ground. EPA

Robert Lewandowski 7 - Clean through on 16 minutes but took an uncharacteristic heavy second touch and the ball ran away from him. Cleared a Basque chance from his own box. Headed wide on 52 minutes. Getty Images

Ferran Torres 6 - Volleyed wide in the first minute, moved wide when Fati came on. Still no goals. AFP

Raphinha 8 - Continued his good form to put Barcelona ahead, a right footed finish for the left footer. A performance described by Barca boss Xavi as “a golden victory for us, golden three points." AFP

SUBS: Franck Kessie 6 - On for Ferran Torres as Xavi’s side sought to protect their lead. AFP

Marcos Alonso 6 - On for Sergi Roberto on 82 minutes. Tried to keep up with Williams as he ran onto the ball to equalise – but the goal was disallowed. Key block in the 93rd minute. AFP

Ansu Fati 6 - On for Raphinha after 82 minutes and straight to the left where he had a shot blocked within seconds. AFP

Angel Alarcon N/A - On for Gavi in the 94th minute. Getty Images

Raphinha's strike earned Barcelona an agonising 1-0 win over Athletic Bilbao on Sunday to restore their nine-point lead over Real Madrid at the top of La Liga.

In Barcelona's first game after being charged with corruption by Spanish prosecutors, they shut out the noise and took another step towards their first title since 2019.

The Catalans secured their 19th clean sheet in 25 La Liga games this season as they held on to earn their ninth 1-0 win of the season, keeping second place Madrid at arm's length after the champions beat Espanyol on Saturday.

Goalkeeper Marc-Andre ter Stegen made some superb saves in the second half and Alex Berenguer struck the post, but Athletic could not break down the league leaders.

When Inaki Williams eventually did late on, the goal was disallowed after VAR spotted a handball by Iker Muniain in the build-up.