FC Barcelona Vs Athletic Bilbao Preview: Will Barca be able to carry their winning momentum forward?

Coming on the back of an impressive performance against Valencia in the season opener, Barca would want to continue in winning ways. Even though the Catalan club hadn't had a brilliant start to the fixture's kickoff, Flick's side came stronger in the second half to bag the 3 points. While the victory against Valencia came in tough away conditions, the Catalan club's next challenge against Athletic might be much harder. The Athletic Club has a lineup including the likes of young sensation Nico Williams, his brother Inaki, and the target man Guruzeta, and thus might give a significant battle to Barca for the complete 3 points.

FC Barcelona Vs Athletic Bilbao Preview

FC Barcelona is set to kick off their second fixture of the 2024/25 campaign against Athletic on 24th August at 17:00 UTC in the Estadi Olimpic stadium. The Blaugrana club arrives on the matchday, being the 2nd spot holder of the La Liga table, intending to rise above that. Clearly, Barca's latter-half performance stood out in the game against Valencia, but the Catalan club needs to be much more prepared to face Athletic, capitalizing upon opportunities right from the very start. Given the Bask club's squad strength, it is imminent that they could pose one of the most difficult challenges for Flick's side this season.

Considering the recent performance of Pau Cubarsi against Valencia, he could be a no-brainer starter for Flick's lineup on matchday. Partering the young Spanish center-back could be the veteran Inigo. The duo being effective in the season opener might be the German's manager choice this time as well. Starting in the left-back role, either one of Balde or Gerard Martin could start. While Balde didn't look much comfortable in the previous fixture, Flick could provide Martin with a start. Finishing the defense would be the rock-solid Jules Kounde and the German goalkeeper, Ter Stegen. Arriving in the fixture as the club captain, significant responsibilities would be from Stegen to guard the Blaugrana goal line.

Coming to the midfield, it might be difficult to predict the Blaugrana club's plan against Athletic. While the duo of Marc Bernal and Marc Casado looked extremely appropriate for Flick's double-pivot system, Pedro's last-minute cameo can't be ruled out. Arriving for Bernal, Pedri resurged the Barcelona midfield with his play style. Significant chances are that Flick would prefer a similar setup, with Pedri coming on as the super sub in the final few minutes.

Talking about Barca's attack force, while speculations are still in line with Olmo's registration, chances are that he won't be available for this fixture as well. Considering such a scenario, the responsibility of playing the attacking role just behind Barca's targetman Lewandowski falls on Raphinha's shoulders. Though the Brazilian hadn't his name on the scoresheet, he looked much more involved in Barca's overall performance. Joining from the wings would be Ferran and Yamal. While Ferran still searches for form, Flick's message has it clear: he will count him for the next few games. In the game against Valencia, Lamine Yamal was crucial in opening the goal count for the Blaugrana club, and much would be expected from his duo with Lewandowski to carry Barca's attack.

Scoreline Prediction

The last few fixtures between FC Barcelona and the Athletic Club haven't been impressive from the Blaugrana club's perspective, with a 4-2 loss and 0-0 draw in the 2023/24 campaign. Moreover, having a bunch of star players, the Athletic club could be a tough opponent for the Catalan club. Considering the recent performances of both clubs, a score line of 1-0 in favor of FC Barcelona might be the fixture's fate.