Thursday’s encounter at San Mames between hosts Athletic Bilbao and Barcelona in the last 16 of the Spanish Copa del Rey will be a familiar affair between two sides who have met on plenty occasions in the competition over the last few seasons.

All for Alvarez

End of 2016 brought some difficult news on Athletic Bilbao, off-pitch news relating to defender Yeray Alvarez who has been diagnosed with a testicular tumour. The 21-year-old is expected to be submitted to a surgery as soon as possible and although team doctor Josean Lekue claims there was plenty of reason to be optimistim, the news came as a heavy blow for the team during the festivities. The club rallied around their defender, who made his debut with the senior squad only a few months ago. Alvarez’s fine performances played a part in Athletic Bilbao’s La Liga exploits in the first part of the season as the 21-year-old was praised as one of the team’s top players this term. Athletic Bilbao are sitting seventh in the league, whereas they had a relatively easy job in the previous round of Copa del Rey. Bilbao eased past Santander, winning 5-1 on aggregate. They are in for a much bigger challenge now as they face a team they last defeated in May 2015. The Basque have lost five and drew one game since, which are the numbers which offer little comfort ahead of the Thursday’s duel.

There is still no indication as to how long Yeray Alvarez will be sidelined after his surgery. In addition to the 21-year-old, Athletic Bilbao will also be without Iturraspe and De Marcos, whereas Ager Aketxe is yet to be take a bow this season.

Barcelona back on track

The reigning Spanish champions returned to winning ways following a three-match winless streak, which saw Luis Enrique’s men record three identical 1-1 results. Four wins followed as Barcelona finished the year of 2016 with a bang. The Catalans defeated Hercules in the Copa del Rey without their MSN trio. Having scored 7 past the lowly side, Barcelona did really make a statement before going on a winter break. Players are now back to business with Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez and Neymar having all returned on Sunday, following extended winter breaks Luis Enrique rewarded them with. Barcelona kick off the new year with tough back-to-back challenges as they are due to travel to Villarreal in the league just days after their Thursday’s Copa del Rey fixture. Luis Enrique will have by now been aware of the fact Barcelona have never won the first game of a calendar year under him, and is likely to adopt a careful approach in order to shift the tides.

Messi, Suarez and Neymar have only returned to the fold and Enrique could decide not to risk them from the start. Goalkeeper Jasper Cillessen will miss the trip to Bilbao due to his calf problem, whereas French defender Jeremy Mathieu is getting back in action for the first time since October.

Verdict

The Catalans have a great record from their past meetings with Athletic Bilbao. Barcelona defeated Bilbao in three Copa del Rey finals from the last eight seasons and Luis Enrique would surely be optimistic regarding his chances of winning at year’s opening for the first time in Barcelona.

Top pick: Barcelona   1.62 (8/13) @WilliamHill

Alternative pick 1: Both teams to score – yes   1.70 (7/10) @Bet365

Alternative pick 2: Barcelona to win both halves   4.00 (3/1) @StanJames