Barcelona will play Athletic Bilbao to get their Spanish La Liga season underway on Sunday, and the Catalan club will be looking to gain revenge for their Super Cup loss recently where they were comprehensively defeated by Athletic. Today's game takes place from San Mames and has a start time of 12.30 p.m. ET, and can be watched on TV on the beIN Sports network or online through live stream via the link below.
Athletic Bilbao may have looked at their new season fixture list and have been concerned at the kind of start they would have.
Facing Barcelona three times in just over a week is tough on any club, but Athletic have reason to be optimistic after what has happened in the last few weeks.
In the Super Cup first leg they demolished Barcelona 4-0 in a shocking turn of events.
They then went to the Nou Camp where many believed Barcelona would storm back, and the main question for many was whether a four goal cushion would be enough for Athletic to hold on. However, not only did they hold on but they were once again able to tame the best team in Europe, claiming an away 1-1 draw to win the Spanish Super Cup 5-1 on aggregate.
Now although other 4-0 result would be extremely unlikely, Athletic have reason to come into today's game with renewed optimism that they can compete with Barcelona and give as good as they get.
Many are wondering whether Athletic prodded the lion via their Super Cup win over Barca, and whether Barcelona will come out today with a score to settle. That may be so, as for sure, some of the Barcelona players will feel they need to set the record straight and claim a win here today. However, Athletic perhaps need not fear today's fixture. They have successfully unsettled the champions through their previous two meetings and they must look to do the same today.
Barcelona know how important getting a win on the opening day of the season is, and they dare not allow rivals Real Madrid to stretch out into a lead early on in the season as they could prove very difficult to catch. Expect Barcelona to come out with all guns blazing today, and whether lightning can strike twice for Athletic remains to be seen.
Today's big game between Barcelona and Athletic Bilbao has a start time of 12.30 p.m. ET and can be watched online through live stream by clicking here.
