Overview
Barcelona did not take long to send a warning to their opponents in the championship race. Hansi Flick's team opened the season with a 5-0 victory at Elche's stadium, thereby quickly affirming the strength of the defending champion.
Raphinha opened the score, before new signing Karim Adeyemi quickly made his mark with a goal to double the gap. After that, Raphinha completed a double, and Fermin Lopez also scored twice to close Barcelona's overwhelming performance.
Last season, Barcelona won the championship with 94 points and scored 95 goals. After a summer of continuing to strengthen the attack, Flick's team still possesses formidable strength and shows no signs of wanting to give up the number one position.
Athletic Bilbao will be the next challenge, but history is completely in Barcelona's favor. The Camp Nou home team is unbeaten in the last 15 times hosting Athletic Bilbao in La Liga. This achievement will certainly add pressure to the away team before the upcoming trip.
Athletic Bilbao enters the new season with coach Nuri Sahin after Ernesto Valverde left at the end of last season. However, the start of the Basque team has not brought many positive signs.
Athletic Bilbao lost all 3 recent pre-season friendly matches and conceded 7 goals. In the opening match of La Liga, they continued to lose 1-3 to Sevilla at the San Mames stadium.
Yuri Berchiche's red card in the 11th minute caused Athletic difficulties very early. Sevilla took advantage with goals from Oso, Chidera Ejuke and Isaac Romero. Aitor Paredes only managed to score a consolation goal for the home team in the 70th minute.
Despite controlling the ball more and launching many shots, Athletic Bilbao still could not create a comeback. This defeat made the away match against Barcelona even more difficult.
Head-to-head history is also not on Athletic Bilbao's side. They have only scored one goal in the last 6 encounters with Barcelona and lost all 6 matches. In this series of matches, Barcelona has scored 17 goals and conceded only once.
The last time the two teams met took place in March 2026, when Barcelona won 1-0 at San Mames. Previously, they defeated Athletic Bilbao 5-0 in the Spanish Super Cup and 4-0 in La Liga.
Personnel situation
Barcelona may welcome Rodri back to the squad in the match against Athletic Bilbao. This midfielder has just returned to training after a back surgery.
Frenkie de Jong continues to be absent due to a knee ligament injury and there is currently no specific time to return.
On Athletic Bilbao's side, Unai Eguiluz, Daniel Vivian and Nico Serrano are all unable to play due to injury. Yuri Berchiche is also absent due to suspension after a red card in the match against Sevilla.
Goalkeeper Unai Simon will have a chance to correct his mistake after an unsatisfactory performance on the opening day, when he had to pick the ball out of the net three times against Sevilla.
Expected lineup:
Barcelona: Garcia, Espart, Cubarsi, Garcia, Martin, Bernal, Pedri, Yamal, Lopez, Raphinha, Adeyemi.
Athletic Bilbao: Simon, Boiro, Paredes, Alvarez, Areso, Canales, Gerenabarrena, Berenguer, Sancet, N. Williams, Guruzeta.
The match between Barcelona and Athletic Bilbao takes place at 2:00 a.m. on August 28 (Vietnam time).
