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How will Barcelona line-up against Athletic Bilbao?

By Ernesto Hernandez

BARCELONA, SPAIN - AUGUST 15: Memphis Depay of FC Barcelona during the La Liga Santander match between FC Barcelona v Real Sociedad at the Camp Nou on August 15, 2021 in Barcelona Spain (Photo by David S. Bustamante/Soccrates/Getty Images)
BARCELONA, SPAIN - AUGUST 15: Memphis Depay of FC Barcelona during the La Liga Santander match between FC Barcelona v Real Sociedad at the Camp Nou on August 15, 2021 in Barcelona Spain (Photo by David S. Bustamante/Soccrates/Getty Images) /
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BARCELONA, SPAIN – AUGUST 15: Sergi Roberto of FC Barcelona celebrates with his teammates Gerard Pique and Clement Lenglet after scoring their team’s fourth goal during the LaLiga Santander match between FC Barcelona and Real Sociedad at Camp Nou on August 15, 2021 in Barcelona, Spain. FC Barcelona will host between 20,000 and 22,000 fans in the stadium as the Regional government has authorised a capacity of 30 percent of the stadium with the requirement to maintain a meter and a half distance between people or groups of people who have tickets. (Photo by Alex Caparros/Getty Images)
BARCELONA, SPAIN – AUGUST 15: Sergi Roberto of FC Barcelona celebrates with his teammates Gerard Pique and Clement Lenglet after scoring their team’s fourth goal during the LaLiga Santander match between FC Barcelona and Real Sociedad at Camp Nou on August 15, 2021 in Barcelona, Spain. FC Barcelona will host between 20,000 and 22,000 fans in the stadium as the Regional government has authorised a capacity of 30 percent of the stadium with the requirement to maintain a meter and a half distance between people or groups of people who have tickets. (Photo by Alex Caparros/Getty Images) /

Goalkeeper

With Marc-Andre ter Stegen still a couple of weeks away from fully recovering from his injury, Neto is set to get the starting nod in goal. Despite being linked with a move away all summer, he is set to stay as Koeman wants to keep all three of his goalkeepers. While he let in two goals last time out, there was little he could have done to stop them.

Backline

Barring any changes, expect the same back line as the one from the opener. The only doubt is whether Gerard Piqué starts. The center-back picked up a knock and was advised to take a rest. But he appears adamant to want to play. The final decision will come down to the manager who could look at one of his alternatives in Ronald Araújo or Clement Lenglet.

Even at 34-years-old, Piqué is still an important part of the defense and they would rather not risk doing any more damage considering it is only the second game of the season.

The rest of the defense should be made up of Sergiño Dest at right-back, Eric Garcia as the other center-back and Jordi Alba at left-back.

Barcelona allowed two goals late in the game against Real Sociedad. They are going to need to be concentrated for the entire 90 minutes against an Athletic Bilbao side who are going to use Iñaki Williams to try to exploit the lack of pace from the defenders.

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