Barcelona edge Athletic Bilbao to keep pressure on Madrid

Barcelona's dance with Real Madrid continues.

After slipping behind their rivals late last week, the Blaugrana jumped back into first place on Tuesday with a slender 1-0 win over Athletic Bilbao.

Madrid can reclaim the top spot with a victory against relegation-threatened Mallorca on Wednesday.

Zinedine Zidane's side is currently three points behind Barcelona but holds the head-to-head advantage.

Substitute Ivan Rakitic scored the only goal of the contest in the 71st minute after receiving a slick pass from Lionel Messi.

The Argentine was looking for his 700th career goal but was unable to find the net at a cavernous Camp Nou.

However, he did supply his 15th assist of the La Liga season.

Though they've won three of four matches, Barcelona have yet to convince since La Liga resumed play at the beginning of June. They registered just four shots on target against Bilbao despite controlling the vast majority of possession.

Barcelona also drew a blank Friday in a scoreless draw with Sevilla.