La Liga: Barcelona vs Athletic Bilbao live
Preview: Barcelona vs Athletic Bilbao
Barcelona will be looking to secure consecutive victories at the beginning of the new La Liga season as they host Athletic Bilbao at Estadi Olimpic Lluis Companys on Saturday at 5:00pm GMT. Hansi Flick’s team achieved a 2-1 win against Valencia in their opening match of the season, while Athletic started their 2024-25 campaign with a 1-1 draw against Getafe.
Robert Lewandowski netted two goals within five minutes around half-time, leading Barcelona to a 2-1 comeback victory over Valencia in the opening weekend of La Liga. Barcelona was one of only four teams to secure a win in the first round, extending their league winning streak to five games dating back to last season. This match also marked a successful La Liga debut for new manager Hansi Flick. While Barcelona will continue to play their home matches at the Estadi Olímpic Lluís Companys due to ongoing renovations at Camp Nou, they hope this won’t affect their strong home record against Athletic Bilbao.
Athletic Bilbao dropped points with a 1-1 draw against Getafe last Thursday. A silver lining from that match was that it marked the ninth consecutive league game in which Ernesto Valverde’s team scored. This could be promising for Athletic, as they haven’t scored a league goal against Barcelona since August 2021, with 1 draw and 4 losses during that period. Playing away might not be a disadvantage, as Bilbao has won their first away league match in each of the last two seasons.
Head-to-head
Barcelona has not lost a home La Liga match against Bilbao since November 2001, winning 19 and drawing 3 games during that period. Both teams played out a goalless draw in their most recent meeting.
Prediction
When at their best, Athletic would be confident about achieving a favorable outcome this weekend. However, they will be missing some important players this weekend. Therefore, we are predicting that Barcelona will earn their second consecutive win at the beginning of the 2024-25 La Liga season.