Barcelona vs Athletic Bilbao

April 19, 2014
By: Nemanja Lazarevic

Fresh from the Copa del Rey final defeat to arch rivals Real Madrid, Barcelona will attempt to keep their slim title hopes in La Liga alive by defeating Athletic Club at Camp Nou. That will be no easy task though seeing as how los Leones are playing well at the moment and looking to cement the final Champions League berth.

From bad to worse

A very successful period in club’s history seems to be coming to an end, with Barcelona experiencing a great deal of problems this season. The Catalans look set to finish the campaign without a single title added to their trophy cabinet given they have already been eliminated from the Champions League, while losing the Copa del Rey final in midweek. Having also lost their last league game to Granada to seriously hurt their La Liga title chances, Tata Martino’s side are on a three-match losing run, meaning they desperately need a morale-boosting win in order to improve the atmosphere in the squad. This is likely to see the Catalans attack their league rivals from the off, although their shaky defence will have to be wary of players like Muniain, Susaeta and Aduriz. Barcelona were beaten 1-0 in the reverse fixture back in December, which should give them an extra motive to defeat los Leones on Sunday. With Atletico Madrid winning their weekend’s fixture, the Catalans currently sit seven points behind the league leaders, albeit with a game in hand.

Jordi Alba, Neymar and Marc Bartra have been ruled out after picking up injuries in midweek, while Gerard Pique remains doubtful.

Top 4 finish on the cards

While showing a great deal of potential two years back, when they made it to Europa League and Copa del Rey finals, Athletic largely struggled to prove their worth last season and they were predicted another difficult campaign. Nevertheless, new boss Ernesto Valverde has been working wonders this season, getting the absolute maximum out of his players, which has seen Athletic close in on a top 4 finish. Champions League qualification would be just reward for some brave performances against Spain’s top sides, with impressive displays against Real Madrid and Barcelona the perfect proof. With five games to go, los Leones sit six points clear of their top 4 rivals, but they are aware that a good result at Camp Nou would be a giant step towards Champions League qualification. And with their opponents going through a very rough patch and missing several starting defenders, we can expect Athletic to try and exploit Barca’s defensive weaknesses each time an opportunity presents itself.

Mikel Rico is stepping up his recovery from an ankle problem and he could be fit to start, while Borja Ekiza and Kike Sola are injury doubts.

Verdict

Barcelona are extremely low on confidence at the moment and missing some important players, so I am not sure they can record a convincing triumph over very good Athletic side. An open game should be on the cards, with both sides expected to get on the scoresheet at least once.

Top pick: Both teams to score   1.66 (2/3) @ Betfair

Alternative pick 1: Athletic with +1.5 Asian handicap   2.08 (27/25) @ BetVictor

Alternative pick 2: Half-time Draw   3.10 (21/10) @ bet365

We Highly Recommend These Places
Share your Opinion!