La Liga: Lionel Messi's 250th assist helps Barcelona edge past Athletic Bilbao

Barcelona has regained the top spot in the La Liga table after Ivan Rakitic's crucial goal helped the Catalonia giants edge past Athletic Bilbao.

Messi failed to score his 700th career goal for country and club but he did provided 250th career assist to ensure victory to Barcelona.

Barcelona's win puts the pressure back to Zinedine Zidane's Real Madrid. If they beat Real Mallorca on Wednesday, they return to the top of La Liga.

"We knew it was going to be complicated," Setien said. "Also because of the situation, there is some anxiety because there's less and less margin for error.

"Sometimes we didn't play with that composure and that showed in the first half when were more inaccurate than usual. We gave some belief and confidence to Athletic."

Dependence on Messi was high and his performance determined the course of the match. Rakitic is among the few players who are likely to leave the club during the summer transfer window.

"It's a difficult period but we have to stick together," said Rakitic. "It was an important goal, it was a tough game, it was hard for us to open the game up."