Athletic Bilbao – Barcelona

Athletic don’t look significantly weaker than a bleeding Barcelona

Athletic will play against Barcelona on Wednesday, 8 January. This is the opening match of the Saudi Arabian Super Cup. The Catalans are considered favourites, but the team has too many problems, and the Basques are a traditional cup fighter. Athletic are very much underestimated against Barcelona. Ernesto Valverde's wards after an inauspicious start have found stability and show very high quality football. Surprisingly, but even in the championship the team continues to fight for the title. The gap from Barcelona has been reduced to two points. Atletico are only four points away from the top spot. If you take the form over a distance of ten games - Athletic is the only club without defeats. The team has been successful in the Europa League, where they have already secured their continuation in the competition. In the last match of the King's Cup against modest Logrones, there were problems, but the squad was not optimal. It is clear that the attacking group with the Williams brothers decides a lot. Iñaki made a bid for the best season of his career: five goals and four assists in La Liga alone. Nico's statistics are much more modest. The defence also deserves a warm word: the Basques have conceded only 17 goals, better than only Atletico and Real Sociedad. Unfortunately, they were not without injuries. The list of players with injuries includes the main attacking midfielder Oian Sunset. Barcelona had a nervous holiday season. The team defeated Barbastro from the fourth league within the framework of the King's Cup, but this result did not improve the moral atmosphere much. The fact is that Barcelona lost the right to use Dani Olmo. The midfielder is a colossal loss for the squad. Plus, a serious blow to the club's reputation. Barcelona will still not be able to count on Lamine Yamal in the Super Cup. And the team's calendar is brutal, with important games in La Liga and the end of the group stage in the Champions League ahead. Right now, the squad is definitely not superior to Athletic in terms of depth. The teams have already met this season in La Liga. The match was in the second round. The Catalans had a solid advantage and deservedly won with a score of 2:1, but then the Basques were still in poor form. It is noteworthy that the goals were scored by Yamal and Sunset. The odds on Athletic are inflated. The Basques are a cup team. In the format of one match, the club regularly bites the grands. We can remember how Barcelona's journey to the King's Cup last season ended with a game against the Basques. There is definitely no big advantage for the favourite here. Barcelona won't be able to rely simply on the magic of Yamal, and without him, the attack has fewer unconventional moves.