Barcelona is aiming to improve to 2-0-0 this season.
When Barcelona visits Athletic Bilbao on Saturday for Matchday 2, they will be looking to make it two victories in a row in this first La Liga season. Ronald Koeman’s team started the season with a 4-2 victory over Real Sociedad, but they now play the other Basque side in an intriguing match. Marcelino’s team, on the other hand, began their season with a 0-0 draw at Elche on Monday.
Here are the stories, as well as information on how to watch the match:
Storylines
Athletic Club: Overall, their performance against Elche was disappointing, but they’ll chalk it up to being rusty and the fact that it’s still early in the season. While they didn’t win the possession battle and only had three shots on goal, there were some positive signs. However, Marcelino was forced to substitute three of his four midfielders in search of more creativity to set up Inaki Williams up top due to inconsistency in the middle of the park. To obtain possession against Barca, they’ll have to be considerably more precise with their passes.
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Barcelona: After Lionel Messi left for PSG on a free transfer, the team looked quite good moving forward in their first true match without him. Pedri, who seems to have appeared in every conceivable match for club and country, continues to be a rock in the midfield (though manager Ronald Koeman has promised he will rest him around the coming international break). Memphis Depay, who has added a level of technical quality and speed that was needed after Messi’s departure, has had the biggest effect early on. He’s no Messi, but he can still be an important part of this team as they try to win some trophies. They might just be okay if he could be the leader in the future.
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What to look out for and the odds
Saturday, August 21st is the date.
Time: 4 p.m. Eastern Standard Time
San Mames is located in Bilbao, Spain.
There is no television.
beIN Sports has a live feed available.
Athletic +333, Draw +260, and Barca-118 are the betting odds (via Caesars Sportsbook)
Prediction
The hosts equalize late on a set piece in a tense, physical contest at the San Mames, and the teams share the points. 1 Athletic Club vs. 1 Barcelona
Also, see source:
Athletic Club vs. Barcelona: La Liga live stream, TV channel, how to watch online, news, odds
