Barcelona take on the visitors Athletic Bilbao in the round 10 match of Spanish LaLiga. The match will be played on Sunday, October 22nd at Camp Nou (Barcelona).
After a few disappointing years, the Blaugrana managed to win trophies in the previous season. While the Spanish Super Cup victory was mostly welcomed, especially given their past drought, and their triumph over Real in the decisive match, the first-place finish in La Liga was a significant achievement, albeit against the backdrop of their competitors' obvious decline. During the summer, the Cules were able to strengthen themselves considerably, despite the stringent financial conditions. The revamped version of More than a club finally began the Champions League without any significant issues, winning against debutant Antwerp and experienced Porto, both away from home. In La Liga, they avoided losses but lost points three times: they failed to score against Getafe in the opening match and had two 2-2 draws in their last two away matches, against Mallorca and Granada. That's what cost them the top spot; after reaching first place, they let it slip away.
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Athletic managed to make a good start. The Basques are one of the three clubs that have never been relegated from La Liga, and they have historically held high ambitions. However, due to a strict focus on selecting local talents, the club from Bilbao hasn't achieved much recently and rarely won any trophies. Ernesto Valverde was brought back with hopes of securing titles at San Mamés. He took advantage of the fact that the experienced coach became available last summer. However, so far, they have only achieved minimal success, which is insufficient progress. Last season, the Cules were practically defeated by neighboring Osasuna on two fronts: they lost to them in the Copa del Rey semi-finals and also lost to them in the dispute for the 7th place in La Liga. In the new season, the team secured four victories with one goalless draw on Mallorca. Before that, they suffered a defeat to Real Madrid, and September ended with 2-2 draws against Getafe and a 0-3 loss to Real Sociedad in San Sebastian. However, in the new month, they managed to beat Almeria 3-0, rising to 5th place.
In January of last year, in the cup, Athletic defeated Barcelona with a penalty goal in extra time. However, the Blaugrana then secured three consecutive victories against them. Despite their progress, Valverde's proteges haven't performed well against top-tier opponents. We recommend betting on a victory for the More than a club stars with a -1 goal handicap.
Prediction for the match: Barcelona to win with -1.0 handicap.
