Barcelona look to keep rolling versus Athletic Bilbao

Barcelona want to continue building on recent run of results

The Europa League victory against Napoli was a breath of fresh air for Barcelona. The club desperately needed a statement win in Europe.

With that out of the way, they now turn their attention back on the league and their next opponents in Athletic Bilbao.

The two sides have faced each other twice already this season. Once in LaLiga and once in the Copa del Rey. Barcelona drew 1-1 away to the Basque side early in the season. Marcelino’s men knocked out the Catalans in their cup fixture.

Memphis Depay, who scored in the 1-1 draw, finally got the medical green light and was included in the squad list. The same goes for Clement Lenglet. Both had been out for a while and Xavi is certain to welcome their return.

Aside from the notable absence of Ansu Fati, Xavi has close to a full squad as he’s ever had since arriving. What this means is we might see some rotation.

Against Barcelona, Athletic Bilbao are two different sides on the road compared to at home. The Catalans have not lost any of the last 19 games against Athletic Bilbao at the Camp Nou. The last time they suffered defeat was back in Nov. 2001.

After serving a two-game suspension, Dani Alves is back and likely to start at right-back. With Jordi Alba serving a one-game suspension, Sergiño Dest could get the nod at left-back.

Xavi has a number of options at his disposal should he want to rotate. Ferran Torres is a prime candidate to be given a rest as the Spaniard has played in every game since recovering from an injury.

Assuming Xavi maintains the idea of only one of Adama Traore or Ousmane Dembele being out on the pitch, there is a space open on the left of the Barcelona attack. He could play Gavi there, as he has in the past, or perhaps play Luuk de Jong centrally and play Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang out wide. Another option is using Martin Braithwaite who has played very little since returning.

All that being said, expect a staring lineup of:

Marc-Andre ter Stegen
Dani Alves – Ronald Araujo – Gerard Pique – Sergiño Dest
Pedri – Busquets – Frenkie de Jong
Adama Traore – Aubameyang – Gavi

Depending on the result of the Atletico Madrid match, Barcelona could find themselves in fifth place. So they know they must continue to stay focused and push on to finish in the top four.

The team seems to have gotten their confidence back and they don’t want a repeat of what happened in the Catalan Derby against Espanyol.

Xavi’s Barcelona are heading in the right path. A path they hope to continue building against Athletic Bilbao.