Barcelona earned a crucial 1-0 win at Athletic Bilbao in their opening day clash.

Luis Suarez struck the winner just after halftime.

Leo Messi stepped up to take a penalty, but Gorka Iraizoz pulled off a wonderful save to deny the Argentinean his first Liga goal of the season.

"I think we started the [La Liga] championship the way we did last season, at a very high level," said Barca coach Luis Enrique.

"We kept Athletic from creating danger and I think we played a very complete match.

"Overall, I'm satisfied. We created chances, a lot more than [Athletic]. Towards the end it got tough for us, of course, because the score was so close."