Prediction: Athletic Bilbao vs Barcelona

5th November 2011

Derby of the round in Spanish La Liga will see resurgent Athletic Bilbao play host to reigning champions Barcelona, with fans at San Mames set to be treated with the best the game of football has to offer. Both sides have been playing beautiful football of late, so there are no doubts that we will see a very interesting game at the Cathedral.

While struggling to escape the bottom half of the standings over the last decade, Athletic Bilbao finally managed to make that step up last season, with impressive showings under Joaquin Caparros earning los Leones a European qualifications. With world-class coach Marcelo Bielsa arriving to replace Caparros in the summer, the Basques were expected to build on that result and maybe even enter the race for Champions League places. However, El Loco Bielsa needed some time to instill his ideas into the squad, with two points from first five league games acting as a real blow to the club’s big ambitions, but just over a month into the season Athletic returned to the right track and have been playing great football ever since. Los Leones not only managed to pick up 11 points from last 5 league games, but they also already secured their place in Europa League stages by taking 10 points from 4 group games and are now able to fully focus on domestic campaign. Even if Bielsa refuses to deploy a rotation policy to cope with the busy schedule, his team are showing no signs of fatigue, so we are likely to see the same side that started the Salzburg game.

Barcelona are doing pretty well this season, both in Spain and Europe, although the fact that they are currently trailing Real Madrid in La Liga is everything but encouraging. Even if the Catalans have won most of the games this season by a big margin, five draws and two narrow wins in the early stage of the season show that Pep Guardiola’s side has a lot of room for improvement. While scoring goals for fun in most of the games, Barcelona managed to keep a clean sheet in every one of their last nine games, which would make one believe they have a rock solid defence. However, that is not exactly the case as the main reason behind this impressive defensive run is the fact that none of the teams Barca faced in this period were interested in attacking, but were rather concerned with not conceding too many. This time, Barcelona are set to face a team that not only boast plenty of attacking potential, but is also very attack-minded at their San Mames, so Barca’s back line will be put to a serious test against Llorente, Muniain, Susaeta and co.

Conclusion

Barcelona’s games this season have been pretty one-sided affairs, with the Catalans attacking and their opponents only looking to avoid a heavy defeat. This is exactly why I am looking forward to this clash, as Athletic Bilbao are by no means a team that would allow Barca to dominate the proceedings, but would rather try to impose their own game on the Catalans. All things considered, I see both teams to score as the best choice here.

Verdict: Both teams to score

Best Odds: 21/20

Bookmaker: William Hill