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| Athletic Club vs Barça – Copa del Rey | Image: FCB |
FC Barcelona begin their 2017 in the 2016/2017 Copa del Rey Round of 16 tie against Basque outfits Athletic Bilbao at the San Mamés on Thursday night as they look to continue their quest to winning a 3rd consecutive Spanish Cup title.
It has always been a tough game for Barça but the Catalans have recently come out tops whenever they face their familiar for both home and away and they will be looking to make it seven wins in a row against Ernesto Valverde’s men after winning the last six.
Barcelona come into the game in good form after winning all of their last four games in all competitions despite starting the season in an unconvinving manner. Luis Enrique’s men have scored an astonishing 18 goals in their last 4 games, conceding only once and they go into this game in full confidence although fatigue may set in.
TEAM NEWS
Luis Enrique already named his 18-man squad for the tie and it included all of his key players with Messi, Suarez, Neymar, Piqué, Andrés Iniesta and Sergio Busquets all included. Goalkeeper Jasper Cillessen is the only absentee through injury and is replaced in the squad by Jordi Masip who has a good chance of starting. Aside from Cillessen, Denis Suarez, Aleix Vidal and Jérémy Mathieu were all left out even though the latter just recovered from an injury.
For the hosts, Yeray Alvarez, Ager Aketxe and Óscar de Marcos are out through injury while Beñat Etxebarria has been cleared to play.
ATHLETIC BILBAO VS BARÇA – COPA
Date: Thursday, 5 January, 2017
Time: 9:15pm CET
Venue: San Mamés
Referee: David Fernandez Borbalan
LAST FIVE MEETINGS
Athletic Bilbao 0-1 Barcelona
Barcelona 3-1 Athletic Bilbao
Athletic Bilbao 1-2 Barcelona
Barcelona 6-0 Athletic Bilabo
Athletic Bilbao 0-1 Barcelona
FORM GUIDE
Athletic Bilbao: WWDLWW
Barcelona: DDWWWW
Predicted Barcelona Lineup: Jordi Masip; Sergi Roberto, Gerard Piqué, Samuel Umtiti, Lucas Digne; Ivan Rakitic, André Gomes, Andrés Iniesta; Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez, Neymar
Predicted Athletic Bilbao Lineup: Gorka Iraizoz; Lekue, Laporte, Saborit, Balenziaga; San Jose, Mikel Rico; Williams, Susaeta, Muniain; Aduriz.
BarcaLens Prediction: Athletic Bilbao 1-3 Barcelona