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Barcelona looks to continue good form against Athletic Club

By Laieke Abebe

Luis Suarez goal celebration during the match between FC Barcelona and Girona FC, for the round 25 of the Liga Santander, played at the Camp Nou Stadium on 25th February 2018 in Barcelona, Spain. -- (Photo by Urbanandsport/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
Luis Suarez goal celebration during the match between FC Barcelona and Girona FC, for the round 25 of the Liga Santander, played at the Camp Nou Stadium on 25th February 2018 in Barcelona, Spain. -- (Photo by Urbanandsport/NurPhoto via Getty Images) /
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Barcelona, fresh off their big win over Chelsea in the Champions League, look to take that success back to La Liga against Athletic Club.

Despite a 1-1 draw in the first leg, Barcelona managed to advance past Chelsea in the Champions League round of 16 in midweek. Now, Barca turns their focus back to La Liga as they take on middle-of-the-table Athletic Club de Bilbao at Camp Nou. The Blaugrana are looking to remain unbeaten for a 36th consecutive league game. In addition to that, the team looking to increase its 8-point lead at the top of the table. Although Atletico can continue to keep pace with Barca, the Blaugrana can’t look ahead to the other important matches that are coming.

However, the Basques will be ready to fight after a rough week in European competition. They are looking to bounce back after being eliminated from Europa League play on Thursday. They will definitely show some fight as the league schedule heads into the final stretch. There are 10 games remaining, so every single point will count even more as the season closes. Athletic will look to spoil the party and steal road points at Camp Nou.

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Despite their big win over Chelsea, Barca will be without two really important players for this game. Sergio Busquets was injured in the midweek Champions League victory over Chelsea. His toe injury will keep him out for a few weeks. On the other hand, Luis Suarez is suspended after picking up his fifth yellow card against Malaga. Paco Alcacer will likely step into Suarez’s spot.

The Blaugrana come into this league game against Athletic with plenty of long and impressive streaks on the line. They already have a club record 35 game unbeaten streak in La Liga This goes back to the final seven games of last season and the 28 games this season. A result against Athletic would make it 36 games. Although that is a long streak for Barcelona, that isn’t the longest streak in La Liga history. For reference, the all-time league record is 38 straight matches without a loss, set by Real Sociedad close to four decades ago.

In addition to that long unbeaten run, Barca has won 8 league games in a row over Athletic Club, 6 of them via shutout. Despite that, the Blaugrana has never won 9 straight matches against Athletic and the club from Bilbao will be looking to spoil the party. In addition to that, Barca is unbeaten in their last 21 against Athletic at Camp Nou (17 wins, four draws). The last time Athletic won at Camp Nou was 2001.

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Overall, the stakes are high for both teams and they’ll be really prepared for this match. Ernesto Valverde is once again going against his former team that he managed and played for. It’ll be emotional once again for him and he’ll be looking to display a good show against Athletic. This match should be very exciting and Camp Nou will be rocking once again.

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