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Barcelona will take on Athletic Bilbao for the third time this month on Saturday.
The sides have split the previous two meetings; the Blaugrana claimed a 3-2 victory in La Liga on Jan. 6th before Athletic mounted a late comeback to claim the Spanish Super Cup title by the same scoreline on the 17th. Asier Villalibre brought Bilbao level in the 90th minute before Iñaki Williams scored with a stunning curling shot off the post to bring home the first trophy of new manager Marcelino's tenure.
What a Strike!! What a GOAL!.. You will never see something like that.. Inaki Williams
Barcelona 2-[3] Athletic Bilbao
94' pic.twitter.com/UARMYxShSm— Labadi Abrantie (@Nii_Champion1) January 17, 2021
Since losing Marcelino's first game as manager against Barcelona, Bilbao has won its last five, including a 2-1 triumph over Real Madrid to set up the rematch in the Cup final.
Ahead of the game, Marcelino said, “We know it’s difficult but we’re not going to give up. We’re going to put everything into achieving it. It won’t be easy ... the postponement of the match against Atletico [Madrid] suited us in terms of establishing new criteria, but we haven’t been able to do that repeatedly. We’re not the most responsible. Those responsible are the footballers themselves, who’ve shown that they can compete with and beat anyone."
Barcelona has enjoyed a strong run of form itself since the turn of the year, having won six of its seven games - its only defeat the Cup final defeat. Ronald Koeman's side must continue winning if it hopes to keep its slim title hopes alive. The Catalan club is currently 10 points off leaders Atletico Madrid, which has a game in hand.
In his pre-game press conference, Koeman said of Bilbao, "They are a very physical team and are especially strong at set pieces so we must show a lot of concentration ... we've managed to create a lot of chances against them and we need to put them away."
Barcelona could go ahead of Sevilla into third place with a win, while a sixth win on the bounce for Marcelino would see his side move up two places to eighth. Bilbao's away form in the league has been torrid this season, with the Basques winless in seven on the road.
Barca remains without Ansu Fati, Gerard Piqué and Philippe Coutinho due to injury, while Sergio Busquets misses out through suspension. Koeman has said a decision will be made on Sergi Roberto's fitness ahead of kickoff. For the visitors, Iñigo Martínez could return to the backline after missing out against Getafe with a muscle strain.
The game will kick off at 3:00 EST and can be viewed on beIN Sports.
