Barcelona vs Athletic Club

Barcelona will be looking to secure consecutive victories at the start of their new La Liga season when they face Athletic Bilbao at Estadi Olimpic Lluis Companys on Saturday night.

Hansi Flick's team began their season with a 2-1 win against Valencia, while Athletic Bilbao started their 2024-25 campaign with a 1-1 draw against Getafe.

In their La Liga opener against Valencia last weekend, Barcelona found themselves trailing after 44 minutes when Hugo Duro headed Los Che into the lead. However, Robert Lewandowski struck on either side of halftime to turn the game around, giving Flick a winning start as head coach.

The Catalan giants have a hectic schedule to close out August, with matches against Athletic Bilbao, Rayo Vallecano, and Real Valladolid in quick succession. It wouldn't be surprising to see them go into the September international break with maximum points.

Although it's still very early in the season, Real Madrid dropping points on the opening weekend was a significant boost for a Barcelona side that is expected to compete with Los Blancos for the title this year.

Barcelona has made just two signings this summer—Pau Victor and Dani Olmo—but their efforts to sign Nico Williams have been unsuccessful.

At one point, it seemed that Flick's side was close to securing Nico Williams from Athletic Bilbao, but the Euro 2024-winning player now appears set to stay at San Mames. If he were to lead Athletic to a win at Estadi Olimpic Lluis Companys on Saturday, it would certainly be a remarkable story.

In their season opener at San Mames, Athletic was far from their best against Getafe; Oihan Sancet gave them the lead in the 27th minute of play, but they gave up just after the hour to draw 1-1 at San Mames.

The Red and Whites, who were fifth in La Liga the previous season, will now go to Barcelona, and if they want to contend for the top four this season, they must win these kinds of games.

As previously reported, Athletic has managed to retain onto top player Nico Williams for the time being, but other players have left, notably Dani Garcia and Iker Muniain.

Their two new additions thus far are Alvaro Djalo and Andoni Gorosabel, and more are anticipated before the transfer window closes. It will be interesting to watch what the squad can do this season.

When the two clubs met recently in March, Ernesto Valverde's squad and Barcelona drew 0-0, although since November 2001, they have not defeated the Catalan team away from home in La Liga.

Due to injuries, Barcelona is still without the services of four players: Ansu Fati, Ronald Araujo, Frenkie de Jong, and Gavi. Additionally, Andreas Christensen is questionable because of a fitness concern.

While it is hoped that Olmo will be registered in time to play for Barcelona this weekend, it is more probable that Pedri, who is back to full fitness, will start at number ten.

Pau Cubarsi, Marc Bernal, and Lamine Yamal were the three 17-year-olds that started for Barcelona against Valencia, and they should play against Athletic as well.

Following his heroics for Spain at the Olympics and Euro 2024, Fermin Lopez is once again eligible, however Ilkay Gundogan has departed the team to rejoin Manchester City.

Regarding Athletic, Nico Williams made an appearance on the bench against Getafe the last time out; but, on Saturday night, the Spain international is expected to make a comeback to the starting lineup, perhaps replacing Alex Berenguer.