Who: Barcelona vs Athletic Bilbao
What: Spain’s La Liga
Where: Camp Nou, Barcelona
When: Saturday at 4:15pm (15:15 GMT)
How to follow: We’ll have all the build-up on Al Jazeera Sport from 12:15 GMT in advance of our live text commentary stream.
Barca will hope for a Nou Camp boost as they chase league leaders Real Madrid. The Catalans can provisionally go top of La Liga on goal difference if they beat Bilbao, although Madrid will be in action against Eibar on Sunday.
Athletic Bilbao, meanwhile, are seventh in La Liga with 17 points after five wins, two draws and five losses. A narrow 1-0 win over Real Oviedo 1-0 last weekend meant they avoided a fourth straight defeat, with the Basque club in decidedly mixed form so far this season.
Barcelona centre back Gerard Martin said he finds it really hard to sleep after the stress of games.
“With the level of focus and stress involved, it takes hours before I can finally switch off,” he said.
Athletic Bilbao full-back Inigo Lekue said stopping teenage star Lamine Yamal would be a priority for his side.
“It’s a very demanding game. They have players of the highest calibre, among the best in Europe and the world, and lately we haven’t had much luck,” he said.
“Lamine is one of those players who can make a difference, and we’ll try to stop him from doing so on Saturday.”
Lekue lamented that away fans have been banned for attending the game as the section separating them from the home fans has not been completed yet.
“Being the club that we are, many of our members who usually travel are family and friends. It’s a shame that we won’t be able to count on their support this time,” he said.
Lekue said it was important to keep perspective over the club’s mixed run of results.
“Bad runs are what people outside the club focus on, but we don’t dwell on them. We focus on each game as a unique match, regardless of statistics,” he said.
The two clubs have faced each other a whopping 244 times, with Barcelona winning 124 of those games, Athletic winning 80, while 40 ended as draws.
Barca have won nine of their last 11 La Liga games against Athletic, most recently a 3-0 victory in Bilbao in May courtesy of a Lewandowski brace and a Dani Olmo penalty.
Each of Athletic’s last four victories over Barcelona has been in cup ties – most recently a 4-2 home win in the Copa del Rey in January 2024.
Athletic’s last La Liga victory over Barcelona was in August 2019, when a stunning overhead kick by Aritz Aduriz won the game for the Basque club 1-0.
Yamal is back in training after undergoing a groin procedure, which led him to miss Spain’s qualifiers this week, and is set to feature against Bilbao.
First-choice keeper Marc-Andre ter Stegen and key midfielder Pedri remain unavailable due to injury.
However, Barca’s exciting winger Raphinha has recovered from a hamstring issue, and goalkeeper Joan Garcia is expected to start after overcoming a knee problem.
Frenkie de Jong is suspended, so Marc Casado is set to replace him in midfield – if he can overcome a groin issue of his own.
Joan Garcia; Eric Garcia, Araujo, Cubarsi, Balde; Casado, Olmo, Lopez; Yamal, Lewandowski, Rashford
Inaki Williams, Unai Eguiluz and Maroan Sannadi remain sidelined with injuries, while Benat Prados is a long-term absentee due to a torn anterior cruciate ligament. And Yeray Alvarez is serving a 10-month ban for a failed drug test.
Attacking midfielder Oihan Sancet has returned to training following an injury and could feature, while star winger Nico Williams scored on his return from injury against Real Ovideo and is set to start against Barca.
Simon; Berchiche, Laporte, Vivian, Gorosabel; Jauregizar, Ruiz de Galarreta; Nico Williams, Sanchez, Berenguer; Guruzeta
