Good afternoon! Thank you very much for joining
Sports Mole for today's La Liga clash between Barcelona and
Athletic Bilbao at the Camp Nou! Both sides fell to their first defeat of the season in midweek, with particular focus on Barcelona's shock loss to minnows Leganes.
The hosts are bidding to improve a miserable week this afternoon, while Athletic are looking to capitalise on a shaky period of form for the champions.
We will have a close look at both teams a little later, but first let's check out the team news...
BARCELONA STARTING XI: Ter Stegen; Semedo, Pique, Lenglet, Alba; Roberto, Vidal, Rakitic; Coutinho, Suarez, Dembele
BARCELONA SUBS: Cillessen, Sergio, Arthur, Messi, Rafinha, Munir, Vermaelen
ATHLETIC BILBAO STARTING XI: Simon; De Marcos, Alvarez, Martinez, Balenziaga; R Garcia, D Garcia, Benat; Susaeta, Williams, Yuri
ATHLETIC BILBAO SUBS: San Jose, Muniain, Aduriz, Capa, Lopez, Oleaga, Nolaskoain
What can we make of those two sides, then?
Well the headline news is that Lionel Messi misses out for the home side tonight - a huge call by any manager at any time, but one made even bigger by the fact that Barcelona are not in good form right now.
Messi has scored eight goals in as many games so far this season - five of which have come in six league outings - but Valverde clearly has one eye on the upcoming fixtures and leaves the maestro out for this one. Brave decision!
One of the famous front three does return to the starting lineup today, though, with Luis Suarez having been rested from the start during the midweek defeat to Leganes.
The Uruguayan is yet to hit his best form this season, but Barcelona clearly missed him for long spells of that Leganes game, with replacement Munir unable to get on the same wavelength as Messi and Dembele.
Messi's absence means that Philippe Coutinho will move further up the field to take his place in the front three, having opened the scoring against Leganes with a very skilful volley into the bottom corner.
Messi's place in the team is essentially taken by Nelson Semedo, who comes in at right-back to force Sergi Roberto into the midfield three. However, Messi is not the only Barcelona stalwart to miss out today, with Sergio Busquets also dropping out to be replaced by Arturo Vidal.
Barcelona's week got even worse when news emerged that Samuel Umtiti did not make this squad due to a knee injury, although Clement Lenglet does return to the side after serving the one-game ban for his red card against Girona.
Alongside Lenglet is Gerard Pique, who has been particularly culpable for the recent dropped points with some very questionable defending - including giving the ball straight to the attacker for the winning goal in midweek.
Jordi Alba also returns to the starting lineup having been rested from the start in midweek, which means that Valverde has made five changes to his side for today's game - a clear signal that he wants a response from the players.
Having said that, it was expected that he would name a full-strength team given their recent form, so the exclusions of Messi and Busquets are particularly interesting and will open him up to more criticism should it backfire.
Athletic will be delighted not to see Messi in the starting lineup, of course, but they are still missing their own star man with evergreen striker Aritz Aduriz only fit enough for a place on the bench having been sidelined with a muscle injury since the opening game of the season.
The 37-year-old has been Athletic's top scorer in each of the past six seasons so, while his increasing age may see him play less of a role as this term goes on, he remains an integral part of the team.
At the other end of the pitch - and, indeed, at the other end of his career - is 21-year-old goalkeeper Unai Simon, who will likely need to be at his best if the visitors are to keep Barcelona at bay tonight.
The youngster made a string of impressive saves to earn his side a point against Real Madrid earlier this season, and another performance on that level tonight will only enhance his burgeoning reputation in what is his first season of senior football for Athletic.
Manager
Eduardo Berizzo has made four changes to his side from the midweek defeat to Villarreal, with Muniain, Iturraspe, Capa and Nunez all dropping out of the starting lineup today.
Alvarez, Dani Garcia, Balenziaga and Susaeta come into the team, while it is also expected to be a slightly different formation with Yuri and Susaeta providing support for Inaki Williams up front.
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This is a big match for Barcelona, then, and every defeat will always ramp up the pressure on the manager so Valverde has taken a sizeable gamble to leave out a player of Messi's calibre in the current environment.
Of course, win today and then Messi will be fresh going into a difficult run of fixtures which culminates with El Clasico, but a defeat this afternoon and suddenly even more questions are being asked of a manager around whom there have been misgivings from the start.
Wednesday's night's defeat at the hands of Leganes was a shocking result - one of the biggest upsets in recent La Liga history for sure - but Barcelona will at least be pleased to have the opportunity to rectify it so soon afterwards.
The midweek fixture saw bottom take on top and a winless team versus an unbeaten team, but the victory did not flatter Leganes, who only really survived one scare after scoring twice in the space of 69 seconds to win the game.
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That defeat came off the back of another unexpected result as Barcelona were held at home by Girona last weekend, although that game saw the hosts reduced to 10 men in controversial fashion when Lenglet was adjudged to have elbowed his man.
It has been a miserable week for Valverde's side, then, although everything should be kept in context and they are far from a crisis at the moment, still sitting as they do top of the La Liga table.
Barcelona were given a big reprieve just a couple of hours after their defeat at Leganes when Sevilla eased to victory over Real Madrid, winning 3-0 when only a draw for Madrid would have seen them leapfrog Barca at the top of the table.
As things stand, La Blaugrana still sit top of the standings on goal difference, and at least one of their closest challengers are guaranteed to drop more points this evening when Real host Atletico in the Madrid derby.
Victory tonight is all the more important, then, particularly as their next three La Liga fixtures come against teams that finished in the top seven last season - Valencia, Sevilla and then the big one against Real Madrid.
Interspersed within that run of domestic fixtures are key Champions League encounters with Tottenham Hotspur and Inter Milan too, so this could potentially be a season-defining period of the season for Barcelona - hence the risk to rest Messi.
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It is crucial that Barcelona return to winning ways before embarking on that run of difficult fixtures, and today they face the prospect of going three La Liga matches without a win for the first time since December 2016 - while they haven't lost successive league games since April of that year.
This Barcelona team does look like it can be got at, though, and Pique in particular has looked shaky during a four-game run which has seen them fail to keep a clean sheet and concede seven goals.
This is still Barcelona, though, and despite needing to come from behind to rescue a draw against Girona in their last home outing, they are still a very formidable opponent at the Camp Nou.
Indeed, Barca are unbeaten in their last 32 home matches across all competitions - winning 28 of those in a run stretching back to August 2017, while that unbeaten streak stretches 39 matches to September 2016 when only counting league games.
It is a daunting task for Athletic, then, even if they may go into the game feeling as though this is as good a time as any to be playing Barcelona.
Of course, they would prefer Barcelona's poor form to be coupled with their own good form, but that is not the case and Athletic arrive at the Camp Nou - of all places - looking for their first win since the opening day of the season.
Athletic's only win of the campaign incidentally came against Leganes - the team that stunned Barcelona in midweek - and since then it had been a mixed bag before their unbeaten start also came to an end during the midweek fixtures.
Villarreal were the culprits in this case, scoring 3-0 times in the final 25 minutes to ultimately run out convincing winners away to Athletic - a result which turned a respectable start to the season into a poor one.
Athletic had preceded that defeat with decent draws at home to Real Madrid and away to Real Betis, meaning that the only really disappointing result in their opening four games was a 2-2 draw at home to newly-promoted Huesca - a team Barcelona beat 8-2, incidentally.
However, Tuesday's defeat means that they now find themselves on the verge of going five La Liga games without a win for the first time since February.
The result also left them 15th in the table at the start of today, only two points clear of the relegation zone with just the bottom four having conceded more goals.
It should be noted, though, that they have a game in hand over every other team in the division, having seen their match against Rayo Vallecano be postponed due to ongoing construction work on Rayo's stadium. If they had played that game and won it, then they could be sitting as high as seventh.
Manager
Eduardo Berizzo will still be fairly underwhelmed by only sitting 15th, though, particularly as four of their opening five games have come at home - and it is away from home where their troubles really lie.
Athletic have won just one of their 11 La Liga games on the road this calendar year, picking up seven points from a possible 33 in that time with four draws and six defeats. They have also failed to keep a clean sheet away from home so far in 2018, with their most recent one coming on December 22.
The Camp Nou is not the most likely place for them to end that run, and both home and away they have looked shaky defensively this season, conceding in every single game so far.
Indeed, even stretching back to last season Athletic have only kept one clean sheet from their last 15 outings, so they will be particularly pleased not to see Lionel Messi lining up against them today!
The expectation levels for Athletic were tempered somewhat during a dreadful campaign by their standards last season, eventually finishing 16th in the table - level on points with 17th-placed Leganes.
Both sides comfortably avoided relegation - more comfortably than their league positions suggested - but Athletic had finished in the top seven for four seasons in a row prior to that, so they hugely underachieved.
PREDICTION: Right, we're 10 minutes away from kickoff at the Camp Nou, which means that it is time for a prediction!
The recent form of Barcelona - and absences of Messi and Busquets - make this a little more difficult to call, but Athletic are not in great form themselves and really struggle on the road. Barca are far from their best right now, but they should still have enough to see off the visitors this afternoon.
SPORTS MOLE SAYS: Barcelona 3-1 Athletic Bilbao
Athletic have a woeful record here at the Camp Nou too, failing to win any of their last 21 visits to the stadium in a run which stretches back to November 2001.
Athletic have lost 17 and drawn just four of those matches too, so anything other than a defeat for them here is a good result.
Home and away, Barcelona have won the last four meetings between the two sides across all competitions, and each of the last nine in La Liga, so the recent history is very much in their favour.
That includes both matches last season, although none of Barcelona's goalscorers in those games are on the pitch from the start today.
Barcelona won both of last season's meetings 2-0, with Lionel Messi grabbing a goal in each of those, but the other two scorers are no longer with the club.
The most recent meeting - which came here in March - saw Paco Alcacer open the scoring, whereas in the reverse fixture Paulinho secured the win with a 92nd-minute strike to add to Messi's opener.
Right, we're just about ready to get going this afternoon, so let's have a quick reminder of the team news first...
BARCELONA STARTING XI: Ter Stegen; Semedo, Pique, Lenglet, Alba; Roberto, Vidal, Rakitic; Coutinho, Suarez, Dembele
ATHLETIC BILBAO STARTING XI: Simon; De Marcos, Alvarez, Martinez, Balenziaga; R Garcia, D Garcia, Benat; Susaeta, Williams, Yuri
KICKOFF: Here we go, then! Athletic Bilbao get us underway at the Camp Nou!
PENALTY APPEAL! An early penalty shout for Barcelona as Coutinho produces an outrageous piece of skill to launch an attack before exchanging passes with Suarez. The Brazilian breaks into the box, but he is just levered off the ball, prompting an early penalty claim which is ignored by the ref. Not enough in that one.
SHOT! Barcelona have made a quick start to this match and Semedo has a go from range here, but he doesn't catch it and it bobbles well wide.
Barcelona are clearly keen to make an impact early here and send out a statement that the past two results have only been a minor blip - rather than the start of something more worrying.
CLOSE! It is a very long way out, but that doesn't stop Suarez from having a go. He doesn't get much of a look-in when Messi is on the field, but this is a brilliant effort as he sends it curling narrowly wide of the target.
Barcelona have dominated possession in the opening stages of this game, but that was also the case in their past two games too. There is a lack of cutting edge in the final third so far, despite some lovely link-up play between Coutinho and Suarez.
Move slick football as Coutinho and Rakitic combine before the Brazilian slips a pass to Suarez, who thinks Rakitic has continued his run. Suarez dummies the ball, but then looks up to see Rakitic has stopped and the ball runs out for a goal kick.
CHANCE! Athletic have just started to come to life in the last minute or so, and they are inches away from taking the lead here! One simple pass forward sends Williams through on goal and he tries to lob Ter Stegen, but his effort drops just past the post with the keeper beaten.
SAVE! This time Raul Garcia tries his luck from range and he puts plenty of power behind the effort, but Ter Stegen tips it over the crossbar.
SHOT! Half a chance for Benat at the ball arrives to him on the edge of the box, but he gets his effort all wrong and it lofts well off target.
CHANCE! Huge chance for the visitors to break the deadlock! Raul Garcia slides a pass through and it takes a touch which sends it into the path of Williams. The striker takes the ball around the keeper, but Vidal tracks him all the way and stops Williams getting a shot away as he runs it out a play.
Athletic may not get a better chance than that!
Barcelona were on top for the opening 10 minutes, but the last 10 minutes or so have very much belonged to Athletic, who look capable of causing Barcelona problems today.
The hosts have just begun to gain a little more control over the match now, resuming their control of possession after a good spell for the visitors.
ATHLETIC BILBAO SUB: Blow for Athletic here as they are forced into an early change, with Martinez limping off to be replaced by Peru Nolaskoain.
CHANCE! Huge chance for Barcelona to break the deadlock! Suarez lends the ball to Vidal before continuing his run, and Vidal picks him out with an incisive through-ball. It looks like Suarez is offside, but the flag stays down and the Uruguayan sees his shot on the turn really well saved by the keeper.
That is the first really big chance Barcelona have created in this match, for all of their possession. They just do not seem to carry the same threat going forward at the moment, particularly without Messi on the field.
Barca have the chance to break from an Athletic corner, but the momentum breaks down and the visitors are able to get players back. Eventually a poor touch from Coutinho sees the attack break down.
We're past the half-hour mark at the Camp Nou now, and Athletic will be pretty pleased with how this is going so far. They are keeping Barcelona at arm's length for the most part and have threatened at the other end too.
Barca almost give the ball away in a very dangerous position with Ter Stegen putting his side in trouble, but they just about survive despite some risky play.
SHOT! Rakitic plays a one-two with Suarez, picking the ball back up around 25 yards from goal. He only has one thought in his mind, but drags his effort well wide of the target.
The crowd begins to up to volume as they try to urge their side on in the final 10 minutes of this first half. They need some inspiration from somewhere.
CHANCE! Suarez breaks into the area and tries his luck with an effort at the near post, but the angle is against him and Simon is able to make the save.
SHOT! The resulting corner eventually falls the way of Coutinho, who twists and turns into shooting position but then fires over when off balance.
GOAL! BARCELONA 0-1 ATHLETIC BILBAO (OSCAR DE MARCOS)
GOAL! Things go from bad to worse for Barcelona as Athletic Bilbao take the lead at the Camp Nou!
Raul Garcia and Dembele both go down after competing for a 50-50 which saw the ball bounce to Susaeta. He is given all the time in the world to float a cross into the box for De Marcos, who sneaks in unnoticed at the back post to cushion a volley past Ter Stegen!
CHANCE! Barcelona almost come up with an immediate response as Suarez turns and digs out a cross for Coutinho, who ghosts into the box unmarked. However, the Brazilian cannot get enough on his header and it is an easy save for Simon in the end.
There will be just one minute of added time at the end of this first half.
CHANCE! Another chance for Coutinho right at the end of the first half as the ball is only cleared as far as Coutinho, who scuffs his volley into the ground and it bounces up before being tipped over. No time for the corner, though!
HALF TIME: BARCELONA 0-1 ATHLETIC BILBAO
More trouble for Barcelona then - they trail Athletic Bilbao at half time are look on course for yet more dropped points having already let five slip this week.
It is a deserved lead for the visitors too; they have created the better chances and have largely kept Barca at bay so far, despite the home side predictably enjoying the lion's share of possession.
The opening goal arrived just four minutes before the interval, with
Oscar De Marcos latching on to Susaeta's cross at the back post and cushioning his volley past the keeper.
It was poor defending once again from the hosts as they let De Marcos ghost in unmarked, perhaps while waiting for the referee to blow for a foul after a 50-50 between Garcia and Dembele.
The better chances aside from the goal have also fallen the way of Athletic, with Inaki Williams missing two golden opportunities in that opening 45 minutes.
The first of those saw him attempt to lob Ter Stegen and send his effort narrowly wide with the Barcelona keeper beaten, while he also rounded Ter Stegen at one stage only to be denied by Arturo Vidal's tracking back.
Barcelona's one standout chance saw Suarez thwarted by the keeper having been found by Susaeta's through-ball, while the Uruguayan has also fired a long-range free kick narrowly wide.
KICKOFF: Barcelona get us back underway for the second half. No changes at the break - Messi and Busquets are still on the bench.
This would have been delicious - Pique floats a perfect pass over the top for Coutinho, who plucks it out of the air with a brilliant touch inside the box. However, De Marcos has tracked him all the way and makes a crucial challenge.
YELLOW CARD! Yeray Alvarez is the first name in the book today for a rugby challenge on Suarez.
Sergi Roberto looks to have picked up an injury here, and he has signalled to the bench that he may not be able to continue now...
BARCELONA SUB: Sure enough, off goes Roberto and on comes Sergio Busquets.
Poor from Simon as he gives the ball straight to Suarez, who bursts down the right. He has three teammates in support, but sees his low pass into the middle cut out. The hosts should have made a lot more of that!
SAVE! Dembele goes for goal from the right side of the area, curling one on target but straight at the keeper.
BARCELONA SUB: Here he comes - time for Lionel Messi as he replaces Vidal.
Another chance for Barcelona to break as Rakitic comes forward, but he takes far too long over his pass to Suarez, who is screaming for it in the middle. That final moment of quality just has not been there for Barca today.
We're approaching the hour mark and, while that is still a significant length of time for Athletic to hold out, this match has a similar feel to Wednesday in that Barca aren't exactly piling the pressure on at the moment.
Messi has just injected some urgency into Barcelona's play, though, and he almost picks out a beauty of a pass here. He is looking for the overlapping Alba, but Coutinho takes it himself and is flagged offside.
OFF THE BAR! Barcelona are inches away from levelling things up! Semedo curls a cross to the back post with Coutinho meets with a volley - although he again does not connect with it perfectly.
Nonetheless, it bounces up and against the bar, rebound towards Suarez who just cannot contort his body enough to turn it goalwards.
Brilliant pace from Dembele as he storms down the right flank to the byline before cutting a low pass into the box which is cut out by the keeper.
The Barcelona pressure is steadily growing here and it is looking increasingly ominous for the visitors. They are still holding on, but if things carry on like this for the next 25 minutes then it will be difficult for them.
ATHLETIC BILBAO SUB: Change for the visitors here as Mikel San Jose replaces Benat.
This would be such a damaging result for Barcelona - not only because of their past two results but also because at least one of their title rivals are guaranteed to drop points later today in the Madrid derby.
Danger for Athletic! Lionel Messi is felled 25 yards from goal and has a free kick right in his territory...
OFF THE LINE! Messi's effort looks destined for the top corner yet again, but De Marcos cleverly darts back to nod the ball away off the line. An effective way of dealing with Messi's free kicks!
CHANCE! Brilliant defending from Semedo! Williams looks to be clean through on goal but, just as he is about to pull the trigger, Semedo makes a last-ditch sliding challenge to block the effort.
Just under 15 minutes remaining for Barcelona to claw their way back into this match now! The pressure is growing, but Unai Simon has rarely been tested in this second half.
OFF THE POST! Just as I say that, the Athletic keeper is saved by the woodwork once again!
Messi plays a brilliant one-two with Alba before firing the return pass towards goal, but it comes off the inside of the post! Moments later he curls one from the edge of the box, but his strike deflects wide.
ATHLETIC BILBAO SUB: Good news for the visitors as Aritz Aduriz returns to replace Williams.
The seconds continue to tick away for Barcelona here. They haven't had the best luck in this second half - hitting the woodwork twice - but they also haven't created as much as you would expect for a team of their quality chasing the game.
BARCELONA SUB: Change for the hosts as Munir replaces Dembele.
GOAL! BARCELONA 1-1 ATHLETIC BILBAO (MUNIR EL HADDADI)
GOAL! Barcelona finally find the equaliser, and their long unbeaten home record looks like it will continue after all!
Unsurprisingly, Messi is key as he first darts down the right before cutting inside and driving an effort towards goal which Simon saves. Messi latches straight onto the rebound and fires a pass across goal, and Munir reacts well to convert it from close range!
That goal may paper over the cracks for Barcelona, but it is quite harsh on Athletic. The visitors have retreated into their shells since Messi came on, but they have played very well today.
Suarez has the ball in the back of the net after poking home from Pique's through-ball, but the linesman's flag is correctly raised.
YELLOW CARD! Busquets goes into the book late on for a frustrated reaction to being penalised for a free kick.
YELLOW CARD! More cards here as Dani Garcia goes into the book for a scything challenge on Messi before Nolaskoain kicks the ball away.
CHANCE! Big chance for Barcelona to win this one as Messi clips the pass to Rakitic, who takes a touch but then lifts his finish over the crossbar.
FULL TIME: BARCELONA 1-1 ATHLETIC BILBAO
It is not the win either side was after, then, and both may feel disappointed with the draw in the end - Athletic because they were so close to a rare win at the Camp Nou and Barcelona before it is yet more dropped points in this really poor run of form.
Munir El Haddadi's 84th-minute goal ultimately rescued a point for the hosts after Oscar De Marcos's opener, but Barca were again far from their best and could surrender top spot in the Madrid derby tonight.
Right, that is all we have time for this afternoon!
Than k you very much for joining Sports Mole for today's match as Barcelona make it three games without a win courtesy of a late draw with Athletic Bilbao. I will leave you with our match report, and be sure to check back in tonight for live coverage of the Madrid derby between Real and Atletico.
From me, though, it is goodbye for now!
