La Liga 2018/19
- Venue: Camp Nou
- Date: Saturday, 29 September
- Kick-off time: 3:15pm BST
La Liga champions Barcelona must pick themselves up from a shock loss against Leganes as Athletic Bilbao head to the Camp Nou on Saturday.
Fortunately for Barca, Real Madrid then slumped to a 3-0 loss away at Sevilla - but Valverde will now see this weekend's Madrid derby as the perfect chance to put distance between at least one potential title rival.
TEAM NEWS
Clement Lenglet is available after suspension, offering Valverde a chance to change things up if he decides to drop Gerard Pique following his poor display against Leganes.
Luis Suarez and Jordi Alba will likely start after being rested in midweek, while Lionel Messi should also play despite a Champions League trip to Tottenham lying ahead next Wednesday.
The squad for the visit of the club from Bilbao is the following: Ter Stegen, Semedo, Piqué, I. Rakitic, Sergio, Coutinho, Arthur, Suárez, Messi, O. Dembélé, Rafinha, Cillessen, Lenglet, Jordi Alba, Munir, S. Roberto, Vidal and Vermaelen. Left out are Denis Suárez, Malcom, Samper and Aleñá with Umtiti missing due to injury.
POSSIBLE LINE-UP
Barcelona: Ter Stegen; Semedo, Pique, Lenglet, Alba; Rakitic, Busquets, Coutinho: Dembele, Messi, Suarez.
Ernesto Valverde: ‘It will be key to overcome Athletic’s high pressure’
The Blaugrana coach emphasised the personality of the team coached by Berizzo.
My team have always had an extraordinary attitude. Whenever we have conceded a goal, we’ve reacted. It's true that we have to improve, even when we win games.
One of the keys of the game will be to overcome the high pressure of Athletic.
Betting & Match Odds
Barcelona are priced at odds of winning 1.158 according to
VBet, while a draw is available at 7.88. A win for Athletic Bilbao are priced at 18.00.
Click here to see all of
VBet’s offers for the game, including goalscoring markets, correct score predictions and more.
