Barcelona vs Athletic Club Prediction: Barcelona come back to Camp Nou for their first home game of the La Liga 2026-27 season to greet visitors Athletic Club on Thursday evening.
Hansi Flick’s team have a magnificent start to their La Liga title defence with a 5-0 win against Elche at the latter’s venue. In their first match under coach Edin Terzic, Athletic Club have been on the losing side, 3-1 to Sevilla, that came as bitter to swallow too. The side from Catalonia has enjoyed a great deal of success over the years, with Barcelona’s record being 6 wins on the bounce against Athletic, with their latest five meetings all resulting in clean sheets for them.
La Liga: Barcelona Team News
Barcelona will be missing the services of Frenkie de Jong, Marc Casado and Rony Bardghji. Gavi has a problem after missing his training exercises earlier this week. Besides, the club’s newest signing, Rodri, could be one of the first names on the playing team but will definitely feature as a substitute in the game if he does not start.
Raphinha is still going to be playing as a false nine because he managed to find the net twice against Elche. The flanks are being covered by Karim Adeyemi and Lamine Yamal. The expected line-up has Pedri featuring among the main team in midfield.
Predicted Barcelona Starting XI: Joan Garcia; Eric Garcia, Pau Cubarsi, Gerard Martin, Joao Cancelo; Marc Bernal, Pedri; Lamine Yamal, Fermin Lopez, Anthony Gordon; Raphinha.
La Liga: Athletic Club Team News
Athletic Club enter the match with some concerns due to injuries and suspensions. Unai Eguiluz and Beat Prados will not be available, while Yuri Berchiche may only participate if his red card suspension from the Seville fixture, which he is contesting with an appeal, is not enforced. Dani Vivian and Andoni Gorosabel are listed as injury doubts.
Then again, Terzic is set for happy news since he is expecting both Nico Williams and Aymeric Laporte to be back with the team following their involvement with various international football activities. Again, Athletic will be dependent on the Williams brother duo and Oihan Sancet to provide them with the attacking flair and goal-scoring ability necessary throughout the match.
Predicted Athletic Club Starting XI: Unai Simon; Jesus Areso, Yeray Alvarez, Aymeric Laporte, Adama Boiro; Mikel Jauregizar, Peio Canales; Inaki Williams, Oihan Sancet, Nico Williams; Gorka Guruzeta.
La Liga: Barcelona vs Athletic Club Prediction
Barcelona will arrive for this match at a higher peak compared to their opponent. In their last game, Barcelona under Flick scored all goals with Raphinha, Fermin Lopez, and Adeyemi scoring. Athletic, then again, are still getting used to Terzic’s tactics and gave up a lot of goals through their defense against Sevilla.
Camp Nou is expected to be a full house as this season’s opening home encounter gets underway. Considering Barcelona’s huge advantage in momentum and in reality such a homecoming game would surely affect the fans, it is difficult not to predict a win for the home team. Although Athletic’s attack of Nico Williams and Sancet can definitely create several chances, Barcelona’s front line should be hard to beat.