Soccer-Barcelona and Athletic share spoils in goalless draw

Soccer Football - LaLiga - Athletic Bilbao v FC Barcelona - San Mames, Bilbao, Spain - March 3, 2024 FC Barcelona's Lamine Yamal in action with Athletic Bilbao's Imanol Garcia de Albeniz REUTERS/Vincent West

BILBAO (Reuters) -Champions Barcelona were left frustrated as they squandered a chance to close the gap with LaLiga leaders Real Madrid after being held to a lacklustre 0-0 draw at Athletic Club on Sunday.

With Real dropping points on Saturday following a 2-2 draw at Valencia, Barca were hoping to secure the win that would help them to close the gap with the pace setters and also enable them to leapfrog Girona into second place in the standings.