For the 10th day of La Liga, FC Barcelona welcomes Athletic Bilbao to the Lluís Companys Olympic stadium this Sunday evening at 9 p.m. (follow the match live on FM). 4th with 21 points, the Catalans must stay in contact with Real Madrid and Girona, the two teams at the top of the championship, in the event of a victory they would come back to one point. The only team still undefeated in La Liga, Xavi’s players can continue their streak and reach 10 games without defeat against a team against whom they have not conceded a goal in the last 3 games for 3 wins. In La Liga, the unbeaten run against Bilbao is even better, they remain in 7 games without defeat. The Catalan coach will have to make do with a reduced squad since Lewandowski, De Jong, Raphinha, Pedri, Koundé and Sergi Roberto are all absent due to injury. Errnesto Valverde’s men have only 1 defeat in the last 5 matches and a good start to the season. In the event of a victory, they would come back to within one point of Barça and would be placed at the gates of the top 4 with the third best defense in the championship behind the two Madrid clubs.
On the pitch, Xavi plays Fermin Lopez directly on the right wing. João Félix continues on the left side of the attack to support Torres, Romeu and Gavi in the middle with Gundogan. Martinez joins the starting lineup with Christensen behind. Valverde lines up a 4-2-3-1 for Bilbao this Sunday evening with Unai Simon in goal, Vivian and Paredes in central defense. The Williams brothers start on the sides of the attack, Guruzeta at the forefront with Sancet supporting the scorer.
Team compositions:
FC Barcelona : Ter Stegen (cap.) – Cancelo, Martinez, Christensen, Baldé – Fermin, Romeu, Gavi – Yamal, Torres, Félix.
Athletic Bilbao: Simon – de Marcos (cap.), Vivian, Paredes, Berchiche – Herrera, Garcia – I.Williams, Sancet, N.Williams – Guruzeta.
