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After almost 3 month’s break, La Liga will be back on the mid-August. The fresh new season will start on 17th August when defending champions FC Barcelona will visit San Mames Stadium to play Athletic Bilbao in the season opener. It will be a Saturday evening game and almost 50 thousand fans will watch the match live from the ground. The Blaugranas will be looking for their 27th title in history. They have been the dominating side in the Spanish top flight in the last decade as they clinched 7 out of 10 titles during this period. On the contrary, Bilbao should be hoping for a better season on this occasion as they finished 8th in the league table last season and won’t feature at any European competition this season.
Match Details:
- Participating Teams: Athletic Bilbao vs FC Barcelona
- Competition: Spanish La Liga
- Match Day: 01
- Date: 17th August 2019
- Time: 7:45 pm BST/ 6:45 pm GMT/ 8:45 pm Local
- Day: Saturday
- Venue: San Mames Stadium
- Location: Bilbao, Basque Country, Spain
- Capacity: 53,289
- Surface: Grass
Athletic Bilbao Squad:
- Goalkeepers: Jokin Ezkieta, Iago Herrerin, Unai Simon.
- Defenders: Andony Lopez, Unai Nunez, Inigo Martinez, Yeray, Mikel San Jose, Yuri Berchiche, Inigo Lekue, Oscar de Marcos, Mikel Balenziaga.
- Midfielders: Cristian Ganea, Gaizka Larrazabal, Mikel Vesga, Inigo Cordoba, Benat, Dani Garcia, Ander Capa, Raul Garcia, Unai Lopez.
- Forwards: Aritz Aduriz, Ibai Gomez, Iker Muinain, Inaki Williams, Kenan Kodro, Gorka Guruzeta, Asier Villalibre, Peru Nolaskoain.
Barcelona Squad:
- Goalkeepers: Marc Andre Ter Stegen, Luis Neto, Inaki Pena.
- Defenders: Gerard Pique, Jordi Alba, Clement Lenglet, Samuel Umtiti, Ronald Araujo, Nelson Semedo, Guilleme Jaime.
- Midfielders: Ivan Rakitic, Sergio Busquets, Arthur, Malcom, Rafnha, Philippe Coutinho, Carles Alena, Jean-Clair Todibo, Monchu, Arturo Vidal, Frenkie De Jong, Serhi Roberto.
- Forwards: Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez, Antoine Griezmann, Ousmane Dembele, Hiroki Abe.
Athletic Bilbao Last 5 Matches:
- 0-2 Defeat vs Sevilla
- 3-1 Win vs Celta de Vigo
- 0-1 Defeat vs Valladolid
- 1-1 Draw vs Alaves
- 1-0 Win vs Leganes
Barcelona Last 5 Matches:
- 1-2 Defeat vs Valencia
- 2-2 Draw vs Eibar
- 2-0 Win vs Getafe
- 0-4 Defeat vs Liverpool
- 2-0 Win vs Celta de Vigo
Predicted Result: Athletic Bilbao 0 – 2 Barcelona
Match Preview: Athletic Bilbao generally plays attacking and attractive football in their fortress. Many La Liga giants have struggled here at the San Mames in
It will be league debut for Antoine Griezmann in the Barca shirt. The former Atletico Madrid star was eager to play alongside Leo Messi and he will finally get his wish done. Barca will field their strongest line up for sure. It’ll be very tough for the home side forwards to go past Ter Stegen. Dutch midfielder Frenkie De Jong will also make his La Liga debut in this match.
My pick for this match is a 2-0 away victory for Barcelona. It’s highly likely that their German stopper will keep a clean sheet in this game and their Argentine sensation will get his first league game of the season right in this season opener.
