The difference between the two sides is still relatively large, but the bookies give Barcelona a much lower handicap compared to last season.
Losing Lionel Messi is a huge loss for Barcelona, but the overall team spirit is still good. On the contrary, Bilbao is basically standing still this season. So can Barcelona take this game successfully?
Athletic Bilbao
The home team Bilbao, ranked 10th last season, has been unable to participate in European competition for 5 consecutive seasons.
The team changed its coach this year, and after Marcelino took over the position, the team immediately showed a good performance and won the Spanish Super Cup.
This season, due to the financial reasons, the team did not have much reinforcement, basically the same lineup.
Unlike Barca, Real Sociedad and other technical teams, Bilbao relies more on the overall cooperation.Last season, Bilbao ranked the bottom of La Liga in terms of crosses, while Barcelona was the top one, which reflects the playing style of both teams.
Facing Barcelona in this game, I believe the team will not play defensive counter-attack at home either.They will try to use set pieces to create chances.
Barcelona
Visiting Barcelona, the biggest problem this season is that Lionel Messi is gone. This makes the whole Barcelona, including La Liga received a huge blow.
This season, the introduction of Depay, Aguero, coupled with its own squad, the overall strength is still able to compete for the title in La Liga.
From the first round of performance, Barca showed a good state, 4:2 win over the strong Real Sociedad, all indicators are absolutely superior.
In the last two years, they have always won against Bilbao. Last season’s King’s Cup final was also won 4:0.There is still a big advantage in mental. Although this game is on the road, I believe the team will still control the pace of the game. The new players will have a chance to make their debut, and Barca still has a good chance to win.
Comprehensive Analysis
At present, Barcelona’s new players are performing well as a whole, and the young players are also showing good form. On the contrary, due to the departure of Lionel Messi, the performance of old players like Pique, Busquets and Alba is mediocre.
Bilbao will have to avenge the loss of the King’s Cup in this match, so it should not be underestimated.
Prediction one：Barcelona-0.25@1.6
Prediction two：BBTS-Yes@1.79
Prediction three：Total over2.5@1.875（1XBET Promo Code：1x_486072）
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