Barcelona vs Athletic Bilbao Prediction - How Will The Blaugranas React After Two Consecutive Defeats?

Next Sunday, Barcelona will entertain a strong and motivated Athletic Bilbao side at Camp Nou for round 34 of Liga BBVA on what will be a match of major importance for the Catalan side if they still want to nourish their hopes on revalidating the league title.

Barcelona are going through a very negative moment. The latest two results, first against Atlético Madrid at Vicente Calderón and then last weekend against Granada at Andalusia, have certainly produced a negative impact on the team. Barcelona’s performances on both matches have left something to be desired and the supporters haven’t spared anyone from criticism, not even the Argentinean star Lionel Messi.

Tata Martino certainly have plenty on his mind right now and the team’s next match against Athletic is probably not the best one to start turning the recent bad luck around. The Basque team is a solid side and although they are as strong when playing away from home as they are when playing at San Mamés, they are still a very capable team that can cause Barcelona another major upset.

For next Sunday’s match, Gerardo Martino will not be able to count on Victor Valdés and Carles Puyol, both recovering from recent injuries and he is not yet certain if Gerard Piqué will be 100% fit for the match.

Barcelona’s Sunday opponents, Athletic Bilbao, are, on the other hand, enjoying a good moment as they only lost once on their last nine matches. Last Monday, Bilbao have completely smashed Málaga (3-0) at San Mamés on what was an almost flawless match from the Basque team. With this victory, Bilbao maintained their six points advantage from Sevilla as they are clinging on tightly to the 4th place of the table, which might grant them a place at the UEFA Champions League Qualifying round next season.

For next Sunday’s match at Camp Nou, Ernesto Valverde will not rely on the presence of Carlos Gurpegi, who will miss the rest of the season due to injury, and he is not yet certain on the availability of Ibai Gomez, Mikel Rico, and Kike Sola, since none of them is yet fully recovered from their recent injuries.

When both teams met at the Cathedral San Mamés last December, Athletic grabbed a precious 1-0 win thanks to a goal from the Basque wonderkid Iker Muniain. Although it might be difficult for Athletic to repeat their last December’s feat, Barcelona will have to work a lot more than they did on the last two matches if they want to claim the three points at the end of the match.

Barcelona

Stats: W-25 L-5 D-3

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Athletic Bilbao

Stats: W-17 L-7 D-8

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Possible Line-ups

Barcelona (4-3-3) - Pinto - Montoya - Bartra - Mascherano - Adriano - Busquets - Xavi - Iniesta - Pedro - Sánchez - Messi.

Athletic Bilbao (4-1-4-1) - Iraizoz - Iraola - S. José - Laporte - Balenziaga - Iturraspe - Susaeta - De Marcos - Ander Herrera - Muniain - Aduriz

Prediction: Barcelona 1 Athletic Bilbao 1