The history of rivalry between Barcelona and Athletic is big – we have something to get off the ground. Teams were facing each other in the Copa del Rey finals and in the Spanish Supercup (the only tournament in which Barca were not able to defeat Athletic, and did not manage to succeed in all 6 tournaments). So how everything will go now? We can make a forecast but it`s not that simple.
Both teams successfully went through best of 16 stage of Copa del Rey. Bilbao had more skillful opponents, in my opinion, – Villarreal. Athletic managed to win twice, so did Barcelona against Espanyol in local rivalry.
Barcelona understands that it`s inappropriate to step back now because Atletico Madrid go without drawbacks and are top of the table. Hence, Barcelona must not lose points at the home ground by any means, despite Ernesto Valverde`s team level.
On the one side, I suppose, we don`t have to expect tons of goals in this game. On the other side, Barcelona with their dominating style will force Athletic to play defensive football, mostly relying on counterattacks, regarding the presence of extremely fast Iñaki Williams and Aritz Aduriz. Of course, Raul Garcia`s injury will have a great impact on Athletic`s potential. However, Muniain has recovered. In addition, they have Susaeta, De Marcos and other young and fast prospects. Athletic are capable of snaring Barca with counterattacks and score a goal at Camp Nou. If they did it recently with Villarreal, which play in the same manner as Barca do, why couldn`t they do the same with Barca? Moreover, Barca have not conceded a goal in two games in a row with Espanyol, but Bilbao are quite capable of scoring, and Barcelona’s goal is out of the question. Which makes me think to bet on both teams to score. The odds are more than 2 on that.