Athletic Bilbao hosts Barcelona in round 1 of Spanish LaLiga. The match will be played on Friday, August 16th atEstadio San Mamés (Bilbao)
Athletic Bilbao decided to leave Gaizka Garitano as head coach. This decision can be understood - now the generation of players from Basque country is not the brightest one (meaning only those who are now playing in Athletic), so it is easier to achieve the guaranteed result with a coach who prefers more simplified football - we all remember what happened with Berizzo (a fan of positional football). Athletic Bilbao sometimes becomes a supermarket for top clubs, and something similar could happen this year, but it seems that Athletic’s squad will be preserved now. The most significant rumor was the story of the departure of Iñaki Williams to the Premier League, but, fortunately, it did not happen. It is worth noting that Athletic Bilbao took second place in terms of last season’s PPDA (pressure intensity; only Eibar has the best result). It is also worth remembering that Garitano moved Athletic to a 4-2-3-1 scheme (which can transform into 4-4-2) - Athletic has a good positional defense.
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Barcelona held a very intensive transfer window, and three stories need to be highlighted. 1) They agreed with Griezmann about the contract during the season - it is forbidden (Atletico has an email proving this), so Barcelona, in addition to the protracted saga, risks paying extra 80 million euros. 2) Junior Firpo, who once called Messi "rat shit", came from Betis, and he apologized, but it is unlikely that the transfer of such a person will help establish a normal atmosphere inside Barcelona; 3) Saga with Neymar - it is not known how and when it will end. Barcelona does not want problems with the FFP, so it wants to exchange sales - it is convenient because the expenses for a football player (salary, agent fees, compensation to the previous club) formally stretch over the entire term of the contract, and the profit from the sale is credited immediately. Barcelona wants to do something similar in technology (here they want to exchange sales of Coutinho and Neymar), but the goal is not to have problems with the FFP but not to block the enforcement of the competitor. There is a ton of questions concerning the game of Barcelona, and the main one is the placement of Griezmann and De Jong: 1) Griezmann should act in the same position as in Atletico (attack from the opponent’s pivot zone), but this place is already taken in Barcelona (you know by whom). There are two options left - instead of Suarez and on the flank. The coaching staff of Barca has very much to think over.
Barcelona has been updated quite well over the summer, but the problems are the same: there is no pressure (Messi does not press) - consequently, there is no good positional attack. Athletic defends very well, so this layout is only in its favor. I think that the upcoming match as a whole will go according to Athletic’s scenario - the game will be closed (though, it’s far from the fact that the Basques will be able to score points), therefore my forecast is Under 2.5 goals scored.
Prediction for the match: Under 2.5 goals scored
